Sentient Familiar of Zero
by foldguy24
Summary: Louise has always been considered as "Zero". However, her life will drastically change as she summoned an advanced sentient Controller Agent that is supposed to be heading into battle. Follow Louise's adventures together with her new found familiar as they struggle through many obstacles that get in their way. Contains some bloody fight scenes and other combat maneuvers.
1. Chapter 1: Data Upload Prologue

Armored Core 3: Silent Line / Zero No Tsukaima Crossover fanfic

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**Author's Note: I up-sized the destructive power and efficiency of the Controller Agent mentioned in this fanfic so don't complain when you realize that it is ridiculously powerful compared to the ones you seen/crafted in AC3 or AC3:SL and you can't find the parts. The parts are all fictional by the way but all of them are based on some of the games' weaponry if you look carefully at the names. The Controller AC's energy weapons all have infinite uses because they are made by the Controller personally. Also, I made it that the Controller Agent is a sentient one for plot development and you'll know how it happened. Anyways, the Controller might have designed more powerful autonomous ACs and unique weaponry as well as other AC parts from those built by the three corporations if it was given more time before it was destroyed by the Raven. I also don't know how tall a 3rd -Generation AC was so I'm going to stick that this AC is 8 meters tall (Armored Core V reference and I increased it a bit from it) and for story-related purposes. Also I don't own Armored Core 3, Armored Core 3: Silent Line and Zero No Tsukaima. All credits go to their respective owners.**

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**==========Chapter 1: Data Upload (Prologue)==========**

It was a dark day for the Controller's rule in Layered as the combined Union and Mirage forces slowly advance to its fortress which is now heavily attacked on all sides. Considering the weakening of its forces as well as the combined might of the two human factions, defeat seems to be in sight above the horizon for the Controller. Countless automated MTs litter the Controller's fortress and, as they are programmed to serve the Controller and, thus, have no free will, they have no qualms on fighting for their "leader" even unto their "deaths".

Somewhere within the bowels of the Controller's Hub, the Controller is seen processing data of epic proportions. Even though defeat is of high certainty, it still does things as if there's nothing serious going out around it. However, the data the Controller is processing shows an outline of an Armored Core which makes it clear that the data is a design schematic for a mech. Since the Controller is the one who designed and built it personally, this AC is likely to be autonomous and, thus, far superior to what Mirage, Crest or even Kisaragi can build. What makes this creation of the Controller more unique is that the Controller itself is also designing weapons for its personal use. As its data is being completed, the data says the following in the Controller's data screen as well as a schematic drawing of its "creation":

"_Advanced Matter Storage System (Enabled)_

_Nano-Metal Regeneration System (Enbaled)_

_Phase Matter Alternator System (Enabled)_

_Human PLUS (Enabled)_

_Head: CHD-GLITCH-ABSOLUTE_

_Core: CCL-08-NERA_

_Arms: CAM-15-SOL/E_

_Legs: MLM-MX/066_

_Boosters: CBT-FLEET-X05_

_FCS: PLS-EYE_

_Generator: MGP-VE/INFINITE_

_Radiator: RMR-BLIZZARD_

_Inside: CWI-FMHS-EN_

_Extension: MEST-MXA/SHADOW_

_Back Unit R: CWX-LIC-12L, CWC-CNGE-500, MWB-MX/WINGS, MWC-LQ/25-14_

_Back Unit L: MWC-OC/8RO, CWC-CNGE-500, MWB-MX/WINGS, MWC-LQ/25-14_

_Arm Unit R: MWG-KARASAWA/REVILE, MWG-MGE/1000, MLB-TWILIGHT_

_Arm Unit L: MLB-TWILIGHT, KES-ES/REFLECT"_

As the data is being processed, the biped AC's wireframe model keeps on rotating while numbers swirl in which it measures certain properties like temperature and energy flow.

"AC completion rate at 90 percent", the Controller said in a slow, monotonous, and robotic voice.

The Controller AC's eyes in its head part suddenly lit up implying that it is now online.

In the Controller AC's Heads Up Display (HUD), a medium sized circle is seen in the center of an orange colored screen while data of various sorts are seen at the sides. The data on the lower left corner showed a picture of the MWG-KARASAWA/REVILE showing its status which it lists as "combat ready". Shortly after it, the Controller's AC lists everything in its HUD as "combat ready" with a green background. After everything has been listed as "combat ready", a large message box appeared in the center of the HUD saying "SYSTEM ONLINE" with the color of the screen turning to green as well.

Suddenly, the Controller AC's HUD showed that a new data is being uploaded to its system.

A box with the name "Infinity Artificial Intelligence Program" suddenly popped out and a download bar immediately started to fill up. After a few minutes, the download bar has been completely filled up and the message "DOWNLOAD COMPLETE" appeared in the center of the AC's HUD.

The Controller AC's systems then began a routine system scan. So far, all systems within the Controller AC are doing fine and no damage or breach was detected. After the system scans were completed, weapon calibrations commenced. It took roughly the same time as the system checks for the weapon calibrations to be completed.

Just as the weapons calibrations were completed, a warning alert suddenly rang within the Controller's hub.

"_Intruder Alert, Intruder Alert! Security Breach detected at Sector A and D. Activating security defensive systems_", a female robotic voice said in the hub's intercom.

The Controller then fielded all available Controller Agents at hand along with Controller Cores to meet the enemy with open arms. The Controller AC built by the Controller personally joined the other Controller Agents as well.

After reaching some distance away from the Controller's Hub. The Controller AC leaped up in the air and activated its core's overboost function to get at the field of action faster. However, as soon as it overboosted, a portal of green light suddenly appeared in front of the Controller AC and sucked the Controller AC in.

After that, its IFF signal was lost and declared "destroyed" in the Controller's databank.

The portal then slowly closed as grenade shells slammed into a Controller Core bringing it down instantly.

-_CHAPTER 1 END-_

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Details of the Parts:

_**Advanced Matter Storage System**__ – a revolutionary technology built by the Controller that allows the AC to carry more equipment and armaments than it should. This system relies on disrupting reality and using the space created by this disruption to allow the AC to store weapons and other provisions which it could use at a later point in time. _

_**Nano-Metal Regeneration System**__ – like the AMSS, this is a revolutionary technology built also by the Controller that allows the AC regenerate parts that have been blown off in intense combat situations. Billions of microscopic nano-cells that could multiply like human cells fill up parts that are lost which results in the AC eventually forming up lost parts._

_**Human PLUS**__ – a unique enhancement present only on all Controller ACs built by the Controller. This enhancement includes an enhanced reflex time that allows the AC to keep track of incoming projectiles heading straight towards it, allows the AC to run at full speed despite enormous weight load._

_**Infinity Artificial Intelligence Program**__ – an Artificial Intelligence program built by the Controller with the main aim of designing an extremely advanced AI that could match or even exceed a human's way of thinking except that traits deemed by the Controller to be negative ones such as emotions are excluded. _

_**Phase Matter Alternator System**__ – a unique technology created by the Controller. By altering the particles around an object and even those that constitute it, this system could change the appearance of said object into something else. With this, bigger objects can become small while smaller objects can become big. Also, it is possible to turn metal into plastic with this system._

_**CHD-GLITCH-ABSOLUTE**__ –a huge improvement of the original CHD-GLITCH__ which comprises of a well-refined human male voice, much improved system recovery, better auto map capability, Bio sensor capable of detecting organic targets at ranges of 5000m, ECM canceller that can nullify jamming and other electronic diversions and Radar function that can detect targets within a 20 km radius at maximum. Also boasts the capability to view targets in real time that are within the radar's effective range as well as thermal, x-ray and negative vision. This head part also sports two gold-colored eyes that turn red whenever the PLS-EYE's "Pin-Point" feature is active._

_**CCL-08-NERA**__ – an upgraded version of CCL-01-NER featuring enhanced boost power rating of 50000 as opposed to the CCL-01-NER's of 3000. Other features include an enhanced Anti-Missile response time were it will allow the AC to intercept missiles and other large-sized incoming projectiles including energy based rounds with a 98% possibility. The AMS is also energy based obviating the need for solid shell missiles. Also the hull has been reinforced that it could already take direct hits that would otherwise cripple ACs with CCL-01-NER as their core part. The energy drain and discharge heat during boosts were also drastically reduced making frequent and long-range Overboosting an option. _

_**CAM-15-SOL/E**__ – arm part that is the successor to the CAM-11-SOL. Its distinguishing features include an enhanced solid and energy defense rating which is almost 12 times than what the CAM-11-SOL can dish out before being rendered inoperable. Other enhanced features include enhanced recoil control allowing for better accuracy, reaction speed and energy supply which makes blades much deadlier when they hit an enemy, energy drain and weight are also drastically reduced, and its cooling features are much more efficient. _

_**MLM-MX/066 **__– enhanced leg part that features an enhanced stability feature allowing the AC to move immediately after a hard landing. Its enhanced stability allows the AC to fire the powerful CWX-LIC-12L while on the move._

_**CBT-FLEET-X05**__ – an improvement of the CBT-FLEET and is designed exclusively for the unique AC built by the Controller itself. Features a much higher boost power than the original booster it was based on all the while keeping a low energy drain when in use. Also features an omni-directional boosting property which increasing its fighting ability especially at close quarters combat._

_**PLS-EYE**__ - an FCS or Fire Control System that is an improvement over Kisaragi's PLS-ROA. This FCS allows for target locks of up to 30 targets with enhanced accuracy and can also switch to a "Pin-Point" Target Lock-On Mode where it could only engage targets in a small area at one point in time but Accuracy and Response time are all increased to an exponential level allowing the AC to fight in intense close-close range duels. Target acquisition range is also increased where it could allow the AC to lock-on targets at 3500m. This FCS also sports an "All Lock-On" feature that allows the AC to make a coordinated lock-on fire with all of its weapons deployed at the time to strike down large numbers of enemies. Should the AC have multi-beams on prior to using this mode, each beam will take on one target unless reprogrammed to hit the same target for a deadlier result. _

_**MGP-VE/INFINITE**__ – although having the same chassis as the MGP-VE905, this generator part is an entirely different design. Unlike other generator parts, this provides an infinite amount of energy thanks to the fact that this is a perpetual energy generator built by the Controller behind the shadows and its front cover is a testbed generator. Either way, it allows the AC liberal use of its energy weapons with complete impunity._

_**RMR-BLIZZARD**__ – along with the MGP-VE/INFINITY, this radiator part is also built by the Controller in complete secrecy with a front cover as a testbed radiator. It has the same chassis as the RMR-ICICLE but has better cooling performance than the former. This part was built by the Controller in the event that the AC would overheat in the middle of an intense battlefield. With this part, it could allow the AC to immediately return back to battle after recovering from overheat in a moment's notice. _

_**CWI-FMHS-EN**__ – a unique inside-based weapon. This releases an energy sphere that slowly wanders around the area it was launched on and begins to chase any unidentified target or enemies that went inside its radius at high speed. This weapon causes energy disruptions within the enemy causing them to explode upon contact. Developed by the Controller as an energy-variant of shell-based floating mines._

_**MEST-MXA/SHADOW**__ – an extension part developed from the MEST-MX/CROW by the Controller. When activated, this extension allows the AC to disappear from sight for as long as the extension is active. This part also retains the capabilities that the MEST-MX/CROW possess like radar stealth and disrupt lock-on features except much efficient and the invisibility feature can be toggled on/off if the radar stealth and disrupt lock-on features are the only ones needed . _

_**CWX-LIC-12L**__ - an extremely powerful linear cannon developed from the CWX-LIC-10. Anything hit by this cannon will be obliterated in one shot or vaporized outright should a human or any "organic" target were to be hit. The linear projectile unleashed by this cannon will disrupt any electronic mechanism in machines that are in immediate vicinity of the impact site rendering them unable to move. This linear cannon is very effective at taking down large-sized targets._

_**CWC-CNGE-500**__ – an energy-variant of the shell-based CWC-CNG-500. It fires much deadlier energy-based rounds than the ones fired by the MWG-MGE/1000 and possesses some degree of anti-armor firepower making it effective against light to medium armored foes. A link-up with the PLS-EYE FCS allows both energy chain guns to fire simultaneously with enhanced accuracy._

_**MWC-OC/8RO**__ – a very interesting weapon built by the Controller. This weapon is based on the MWC-OC/30 in terms of operation. However, instead of the orbits simply fading away after they were depleted of their energy, the orbit cannons will return to the AC to rearm and recharge to which they could be launched again to provide accurate suppression fire and harass the enemy's position. This weapon could fire up to 8 assault orbits at a time._

_**MWB-MX/WINGS **__– back boosters developed from the MWB-MX/WAKE back boosters, this particular back booster has more boost power than the WAKE. As such, it grants the AC more speed and enables the AC flight mode. The most distinguishing feature of this back booster is its Omni-directional feature which also allows the AC to change directions while moving at high speeds even in the air allowing it to be very suited for aerial dogfights. This results in the AC being able to dodge incoming enemy fire all the while closing in and/or firing on said enemies. Link-up with the core part as well as the generator's infinite energy reserve allows for light-speed travel over a wide tract of land. This back booster takes the form of antenna-like sticks that expand to let out energy when used._

_**MWC-LQ/25-14**__ – a light weight energy cannon designed as an improvement over the MWC-LQ/15. Improvements include a multi-barrel feature allowing for 14 simultaneous shots at once with each shot aimed at a different target. A link-up with the PLS-EYE makes this possible. However, it is also possible to shoot all 14 beams at one target manually. This energy cannon is designed to attack targets where the CWX-LIC-12L will prove to be an overkill or cause unnecessary collateral damage._

_**MWG-KARASAWA/REVILE**__ – a modified KARASAWA laser rifle boasting higher firepower than the laser rifle it was based on. It also boasts increased range making it much deadlier. Blast radius and knock back on the enemy are also enhanced to increase the chances of dealing higher damage to the enemy by stopping them dead in their tracks and continuous fire until they are completely destroyed. Linking up with the PLS-EYE FCS turns this weapon into a long-range high-powered energy sniper rifle capable of turning anything it hit into smithereens. _

_**MWG-MGE/1000 **__–an energy-based machine gun based on the shell-based MWG-MG/1000. This weapon serves as a secondary firearm just in case the MWG-KARASAWA/REVILE was unable to shoot down charging enemies from afar and the AC must take them down at short range. This weapon is good at taking down masses of enemy units thanks to its rapid-fire capability. _

_**MLB-TWILIGHT**__ – an energy-based laser blade which is an improvement of the MLB-MOONLIGHT. This particular weapon boasts unique traits that the MLB-MOONLIGHT lack such as enhanced blade range, higher energy intensity allowing it to cut through any metal with ease and a bio-shock feature where it could damage anything near the blade even though said objects do not actually make contact with the blade. This blade could also remain active as long as it is needed unlike its predecessor that vanishes with every strike. Mounted on both arms for maximum close range combat performance._

_**KES-ES/REFLECT**__ – an energy shield derived from the KES-ES/MIRROR. This energy shield boasts higher defense against all types of incoming projectiles ranging from energy bullets to high-powered explosive shells. It also sports a wider area coverage allowing the AC and anything behind it to fully shield itself and others from the worst of what could the enemy unleash. When used the correct way, this energy shield could also deflect incoming enemy attacks back at the attacker. Can also be thrown at the enemy like a boomerang with destructive results._


	2. Chapter 2: All Systems Online

**Author's Note: Hello guys, this is chapter 2. By the way, I have read from the reviews asking whether the AC on the story cover is how the Controller AC looks like. Actually, it isn't. However, I can assure to you guys that the Controller AC in this fanfic is as powerful and awesome as 13's Mavors AC (read Armored Core Wikia for further details). Anyways, you'll find out what the Controller AC in this fanfic looks like in this chapter.**

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**==========Chapter 2: All Systems Online==========**

The Controller AC had just entered the green portal that suddenly appeared in front of it by accident. Almost immediately, the Controller AC's scanners ran a full scan of the area to figure out what happened. Some minutes later, the results turned out but it doesn't sound good for the Controller AC. The area it was in right now has a zero-gravity property making it impossible to move except float. There are no readings on its radar either of friendly or enemy units as well. Thankfully, a follow-up scan pertaining to its systems and parts including weapons report no damage and all are still functional. The MWB-MX/WINGS back boosters and, most importantly, the CBT-FLEET-X05 are still functional which can allow the AC to glide in this unknown area or dimension as how the AC considers it.

As the Controller AC is pondering on what to do which it have difficulty with considering that there are no options available except float in this strange dimension, it heard a human female voice from behind.

"_Pentagon of the five elemental powers, heed my summoning...and bring forth my familiar!_"

As soon as the Controller AC heard the voice, it immediately turned around to where the voice came from with the MWG-KARASAWA/REVILE at its right hand and the KES-ES/REFLECT on the other hand both of which are ready for combat. It is clear that the Controller AC is ready to attack any unidentified targets on sight as per its standard programming is concerned.

However, it didn't found anyone or anything at the place where the voice came from except the same green portal that sucked it in. Left with no other option, the Controller AC activated its boosters including the back boosters which extended in a moment's notice that it now looks wings because the heat exhaust propelling it resembled ethereal wings and went to the green portal hoping to find a way out.

Meanwhile… At the Tristain Academy of Magic

A large pentagon-shaped fortress building is seen with each corner having a tower and a tower is also located in the center of the fortress. The entire building looks like a medieval –era style fortress and the surrounding areas just assert and complement it as such.

At a green grassy open field, many students with capes of various colors and wands populate the area.

At one point, a male student swung his wand and something materialized out of thin air. It was a creature that more or less resembles an oversized eye with a tail at its back.

"Woah… amazing!", the students said in some sort of unison at the sight of the creature before them.

"Thanks!", the male student who summoned the strange creature said.

"Is everybody else done?", a bald megane-middle aged man who wears a long coat and carries a wooden staff said.

"Only Louise the Zero is left, Professor", a busty tan-skinned redhead girl said.

The balding professor then walked up to Louise and said "It's your turn Louise"

The girl called Louise is a short girl with pink hair. Overall, she can be considered underdeveloped in terms of body size because she stands roughly about the height of a 14 year old girl instead of a 17 year old one.

As soon as the professor called her to make the summoning, the same redhead girl complained.

"Professor, are you serious?", the redhead girl said.

Other students appear to side with the redhead regarding this matter as they also urge the professor to not let her do it. Also, a small girl with glasses and blue hair about Louise's size is beside the redhead and a blue dragon is beside her as well.

"Now, calm down everyone", the bald megane professor said.

"But she's just going to blast everything if she does", a female student said.

"Yeah, I bet she's going to end up with another explosion", a male student said immediately after the female student.

The professor is about to reply to what they said but Louise just stopped him.

"It's okay professor, I won't mess up this time", Louise said, "Shall we begin the Summoning Ritual?"

Seeing that Louise is ready, the professor just ignored the rants of the other students and let Louise do the summoning ritual.

"Yes, you may", the bald professor said.

After getting her professor's approval, Louise then positioned her wand in the same way as the other students did their summoning.

"Oh shit, everyone take cover!", a male student said as he saw Louise ready for casting a spell

Louise chanted a spell saying "_Pentagon of the five elemental powers, heed my summoning...and bring forth my familiar!_".

"Hey what kind of incantation is that?", another male student said.

"Ignore her, just find some co-", a female student said although she wasn't able to finish what she was about to say as an enormous explosion suddenly knocked everyone down in the immediate vicinity.

Students who managed to find some cover were lucky not to get blasted off and others who happened to be out in the open where blown off although they received minor injuries. Only a few managed not to get affected by the blast as they had casted protection spells like the professor and the redhead who was lucky as the blue-haired girl also casted a protection spell before it hit them not to mention that the blue dragon with them could simply shield them.

"Damn it, this is why we don't like that girl casting any spells", a blonde-haired guy said as he pushed some rubble away from him.

"Louise you're always zero!", a blonde-haired girl with a drill hairstyle shouted as she followed up the blonde-haired guy on shouting at Louise.

Other students who managed to get up to their feet after the explosion followed on.

"Just give up zero", a male student said, "the only thing you're good at is at blowing somebody else".

"Yeah", another male student said, "it would be a strange dream for us if you succeeded in a summoning a fa-".

The male student was not able to finish what he was about to say as everyone including him suddenly heard a faint humming noise that they never heard before.

"Hey Professor Colbert, I think something's behind that smoke", a female student said to the bald megane professor who also got up after the blast from the safety of his protection spell.

Upon hearing his student about it, Colbert then casted a wind spell to disperse the smoke.

Once the smoke subsided, everyone was dumbfounded to see what was behind the smoke.

There it was… an 8 meter-tall golem standing on where the explosion blasted off. Golems made by square-class mages tower at a minimum height of 20 meters but those golems will look inferior when placed beside this one despite its height not being half of the latter. Compared to the typical golems, this one is unique as it is made of what seems to be a finely welded metal that looks shiny and well polished not to mention that it seems to have joints and a full set of fingers on both hands as well which golems lack most of the time. Add to this is that the morning sunlight casted its rays on it and the gray-white color-schemed armor of the presumed golem reflected it resulting in beautiful flickers of angelic light illuminating the open field.

One could say that this golem is a true masterpiece and Louise should be proud of it as it seems to imply that she's good at earth magic. However, the physical features of this golem struck Professor Colbert's interest… and fear as the 'golem' itself is armed with what seems to be an enormous one-handed musket and a shield. Furthermore, the things sticking on its shoulders also urge his curiosity as his wanting to know its nature is running wild. Also the sticks protruding on its back is very intriguing as well. But what caught Colbert's attention was the emblem etched on the left shoulder of the 'golem'. What does the emblem stand for? And what does the word "DOVE" imply? Maybe a codeword or something else?

Either way, the assumption in Colbert's mind that the golem is armed just served to make the golem much pleasing to the eyes. Even he would admit that the golem is fancy looking because of those weapons that the golem looked like a knight in a shiny gray and white armor.

"Professor Colbert, may I continue with the summoning?", Louise asked Colbert.

Colbert was still dumbstruck at the sight of the golem and it took Louise a second question to make him snap back to reality.

"Y-Yes", Colbert said as he regained his focus.

Upon hearing the voices, the so-called golem turned at the direction of where the voices came from. Once it saw organic beings that it calls as humans, it immediately knelt down to get a better look especially at Louise.

To everyone's point of view,, they were shocked. They never expected to see the 'golem' summoned by someone whom they call as "Zero" knelt down in one knee in front of Louise in the same fashion as a knight showing respect to a king or queen by kneeling before the latter's presence. They were in disbelief in this unexpected development as it appeared that the 'golem' is already loyal to its summoner even before the contract could be sealed.

"No way… ", the busty tan-skinned redhead from earlier said.

"What! Zero summoned a golem better than my bronze valkyries! You got to be kidding me!", the blonde-haired guy from before said.

On the Controller AC's HUD, however, it is running a full scan on Louise with the intent to know if she is a hostile or a friendly unit. The Controller AC can't fire as the area it is in is categorized as a "civilian area" and its standard programming doesn't allow to open fire on civilians unless they show hostility.

Suddenly, Louise kissed the 'golem' at its foot because she's short and, thus, can't reach higher. At this point, the Controller AC's HUD showed a sudden energy spike rising within its systems but no error could be found. It then commenced a scan after another wanting to know the cause of the energy spike. Almost immediately, the 'golem' stood up straight after Louise kissed it. It then turned around and did some trivial things like rotating its arms, walking and running with and without its weapons and attachments which it could make to appear and disappear at a moment's notice, and so forth. The golem then noticed that runes appeared on the back of its left hand.

This action of the 'golem' made the on looking crowd of nobles as well as commoners who happened to be in the area to speculate on what it is doing. Could it be turned on because a girl kissed it? No, golems don't have genders to begin with so this is out of the question.

Before anyone could think of the right guess, Louise immediately figured out what it was doing: the golem is trying to figure out what the runes are about. However, the only problem to this is that golems don't have minds so this is also out of the question in her perspective and she dismissed it afterwards.

After noticing the runes and no results could be produced on it, the 'golem' then stopped moving. It turned around facing Louise and started walking towards it. At the same time, in its HUD, the Infinity Artificial Intelligence Program turned online and it said "ready".

Everyone, including Louise and Colbert, were guessing on what the 'golem' will do next. However, they didn't expect when it did something out of the blue.

"What are these runes human?", the 'golem' said in a male voice although it is clear that its voice is still robotic due to the metal screeching sound.

There was a silence in the next few moments.

The only thing that broke that silence is the scream of those in the area.

"WWWWHHAAATTTTTT!", everyone said who heard the 'golem' talk.

_-CHAPTER 2 END-_

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**Notice: The Infinity Artificial Intelligence Program granted the Controller AC the capability to talk and the contract allowed it to understand Halkeginian. Oh yeah, fight scenes would likely start in Chapter 3 and those would be awesome battles but can be one-sided at times. **

**PS: I have some important tests coming up this week so I won't be able to write chapter 3 for the time being. Anyways, I could at least ensure chapter 3 to be out within at least 10 days after my test. **


	3. Chapter 3: System Reboot

**Author's Note: This is Chapter 3 of Sentient Familiar of Zero. My tests got suspended giving me the opportunity to write and finish this chapter. I uploaded this chapter at the same time as Chapter 17 of TWGOK: Beyond God's Mask. Anyways, enjoy reading Chapter 3! **

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**==========Chapter 3: System Reboot==========**

The entire crowd is still in shock of what they had just witnessed: a 'golem' that can talk. This is unheard of but the 'golem' in front of them just did it.

The only thing that broke the silence is when the 'golem' in front of them asked again.

"I repeat, what are these runes human?", the Controller AC asked in a quite inhuman voice.

"T-Those runes are symbols of that designate summoned beings as familiars", Colbert replied.

"What are familiars?", the Controller AC asked again.

"They are beings summoned to serve their masters", Colbert replied.

In the Controller AC's HUD, the following are shown:

"_Com Link establishing…_

_Unable to connect to Controller Network (Error 400432145)_

_Loading all available tasks…_

_No tasks found_

_Order list: Empty_

_Order Acquisition switching to "master"…_

_Changes in Order Acquisition complete_

_Awaiting new orders…"_

"Understood", the Controller AC replied, "So who is this master that I will serve".

After hearing what the 'golem' said, Lousie went in front of it and called it to get its attention.

"That will be me, Louise Francoise Le Blanc de la Vallierie", Louise said although she seems to be a bit content and her face looks red.

The Controller AC turned its attention to Louise.

"Starting now, you'll be following my orders as your master", Louise ordered the 'golem'.

"Understood", the Controller AC replied.

"What is your name by the way?", Louise asked her new familiar.

"My name is Cherub", the Controller AC replied.

In Cherub's HUD, a profile of Louise is displayed. The following are shown together with a picture of Louise at the right side of the HUD:

_« Name: Louise Francoise Le Blanc de la Vallierie_

_Race: Human_

_Gender: Female_

_Recognizable features: Bright pink hair, White skin, Short stature and Pink eyes_

_Height: __153 cm (5')-156 cm (5'1)_

_Dimensions: 76/53/75_

_Human Heat Signature Code: LFV-2237_

_Profile pending further updates…"_

"Sounds strange to me", Louise said.

"What is the location that I am in?", Cherub asked.

"This is Tristain's Magic Academy", Colbert answered, "and this place is located in the world of Halkegenia".

In the Cherub's HUD, the following are shown with a spherical hologram of the planet where Halkeginia is located rotating while calculations about it are running:

"_List of locations:_

_Layered – world coordinates lost_

_Sector A – coordinates lost_

_Sector B- coordinates lost_

_Sector C –coordinates lost_

_Sector D – coordinates lost_

_Sector E – coordinates lost_

_Halkegenia – world coordinates set. Awaiting further coordinate updates of future locations in this world_

_Tristain's Academy of Magic – coordinates set_

_*Once the coordinates of Halkeginia and Tristain's Academy of Magic were set, the holographic planet zoomed in to display Tristain's location and total land area in square kilometers. Labels of "Unknown" are placed over areas were Germania, Gallia, Albion, Romalia, and the eastern territories controlled by elves should be.*"_

"Understood", Cherub said.

Once Colbert saw that Louise and her 'golem' familiar have finally get to know each other, he ordered the class to go back to their classes.

"Alright, everyone", Colbert said, "go back to your classes. Show's over".

All students complied with Colbert's command.

As the students are walking towards their classrooms, small chats are heard.

"Are you sure we're not dreaming?", a male student asked.

"Yeah, I slapped my face with a water whip and we're really awake", another student said.

"Dear Founder just what the hell happened?", a female student said to herself.

"Maybe she's not really Louise", a male student said.

"Huh?", another male student exclaimed.

"Look, there's no way that Louise the Zero can make a golem appear out of the blue, the Zero in front of us must be a fake", he said.

"Yeah, there must be some illusion at work here", the same female student said.

"But what noble will try to do this?", the male student asked.

Before his companions can say something, he realized that even doing such a thing is impossible.

"Nah… forget what I said", the male student said.

"What do you mean", his companions asked him.

"Look, there's no way that a mage can shrink his size comparable to Zero", he replied, "and she's a late bloomer that's why no guy has been going on her".

Louise twitched in what she heard and was about to cast another explosion to shut them up. However, as she was about to do it, her 'golem' familiar interrupted her.

The blue-haired girl that was with the redhead a while ago is secretly observing Louise and her familiar from within the crowd although she doesn't pay attention that much.

"Master, is there anything wrong?", Cherub asked.

The moment she heard her familiar, Louise cancelled her idea and lowered her wand.

"N-Nothing", Louise replied to her 'golem' familiar.

When they reached the building, Louise ordered her familiar to stay outside as he can't fit in.

"Just stay here and wait for me to get out", Louise said, "and don't do anything stupid".

"Understood", Cherub replied.

As soon as Louise entered the building, Cherub stood on where it is prior to Louise entering the building.

Somewhere around the area, a maid can be seen looking at the golem. The maid has short black hair that extends up to her neck, a white skin complexion that almost contrasts her black hair, and a nice body that is way better than Louise's body. She was curious about the fact that Louise, who had been called "Zero" in the past, was now able to summon a familiar.

However, what caught her attention on the 'golem' are the 'golem' itself and the emblem etched on its left shoulder. The emblem, for the most part, caught her attention as she recalled it as something that her great-great-great-grandfather had shown her. He said, before his death, that it was the symbol of a masterpiece that he and his colleagues had been working on.

At first, the maid thought that what her great-great-great-grandfather told her was a lie but considering what she is seeing right now, she had to reconsider what her great-great-great-grandfather said to her.

Meanwhile… back at Cherub

Cherub was still running a wide-area scan wanting to know the topography and other land features around Tristain's Magical Academy. The results returned after 30 minutes. The results said that the area around the Magical Academy is covered with lush green vegetation, few roads which all aren't even made of asphalt, thick forests, and almost no area that can provide hard cover except the building itself which constitutes the Magical Academy. Regarding the Magical Academy, further scans confirmed that the Academy building was once a fortress as evident in the dungeons detected underground of the Academy, the size of the walls in the exterior as well as those enveloping the main structure in the center of the pentagon-shaped building, and the towers themselves which are six in total: five at each corner of the pentagon and the sixth one is located on the center.

A follow-up scan pertaining to the airspace above the Academy confirmed that air pressure and gravity are normal meaning that Cherub has no need to calibrate its boosters for space-flight.

After all scans were completed, Cherub waited as time passed. For a Controller Agent, time is worthless and has no meaning to it. All that needs to be done is waiting until the mission objectives are completed or wait until one is issued to it by the Controller.

_Flashback – Earth 20XX_

_The world is in chaos. The national governments of their respective countries and the mega corporations vied for control of Earth's populations, territories, and resources. The private armies that the mega corporations possessed rivaled those of the national militaries of many countries across the world. A joint resolution signed by all countries ordered the mega corporations to abolish their private armies. Of course, the mega corporations didn't complied as, with their private armies, they could easily take on the national governments on a head-to-head basis. _

_The world was literally torn apart into two warring factions. On one side, there are the national governments of all the countries in the world and siding with them are unrecognized countries that demanded international recognition in exchange for them siding with the national governments in this war. On the other side, the mega corporations and siding with them are lesser corporations that were promised a position in the new world order that they are attempting to establish in exchange for their services. Some of those lesser corporations are even government- controlled ones that took the offer broke off from their governments. _

_The ensuing war caused millions of deaths per battle with each million of deaths being called "mega death". The once glorious cities of the world were reduced to nothing but forsaken ruins that were marked by the horrors of war and became living nightmares to those who had survived. Then the war itself came into a bitter deadlock._

_In a desperate attempt to seize the upper hand over the other, hundreds of nukes were all fired at once and all of them are aimed at targets deemed to be assets of the other by both sides. This, of course, further added to the casualty reports. The war ended some time later after it. Well, it seems that the maxim "There are no victors in war, only victims" proved true in this one. None of the sides secured any tactical or strategic victory at all despite the loss of millions of lives in battles. Perhaps, the only good thing that happened is that Earth didn't disintegrate as per what everyone expects when a doomsday device is unleashed and was still in one piece. This nightmare is called the "Great Destruction"._

_Either way, the condition of the world after this post-nuclear holocaust scenario is still worst at best. All the cities in the world were either nuked to oblivion that they were literally erased off the face of the world or were turned into nothing but dangerous trench-like battlefields where small skirmishes occur between government and corporate forces with the intent of scavenging whatever resources were left. The only things that are left are the green forests that weren't attacked in the missile fest as there's no reason to target them in the first place. They are nothing but just a bunch of trees adjacent to each other anyway._

_Several years after the conclusion of that pointless war, the national governments were all but a memory of the past so as the concept of nations and countries. They fell as either most of their leadership were dead or their own population had turned against them in this post-apocalyptic period. The mega corporations, on the other hand, were lucky enough to be in one piece after the war but they were weak on their own. To overcome this dilemma, the mega corporations banded together and formed up a solution to arrange a political control over what is left of the human population and alleviate the sufferings experienced after the war like nuclear radiation._

_The solution then finally came. It was settled that humanity should live underground until the nuclear radiation above land has decreased to a degree that it would no longer be a threat to human life. And, to get rid of corruption that plagued the national governments, a sentient supercomputer with an extremely advanced AI was authorized to administer all political functions within the subterranean shelter with the corporations taking a back seat all the while maintaining some political power to nudge things to their favor as they desire. The rest is then history…_

_Flashback end. _

Cherub waited for an hour. As it is waiting, memories that it considers to be not its own started flashing in its HUD showing a very gruesome battle.

_Flashback – Unknown source_

_A Controller AC is shown moving inside Rehito Laboratory and has orders to bring the facility out of commission and eliminate any hostile targets on sight. On its way, it encountered an Armored Core. As per the order, the Controller AC complied and started attacking the Armored Core. The enemy Armored Core, on the other hand, was piloted by a human and also attacked the Controller Ac in return. The battle lasted for some minutes. The Controller AC used its CWC-GNL-15 grenade launcher to smash the enemy AC. The Controller AC fired five shots and all hit the enemy AC. Stunned because of the grenade blasts, the enemy AC wasn't able to do anything. The Controller AC immediately charged the enemy AC all the while firing its MWG-XCW/90 laser rifle at it. As soon as it was close enough, it unleashed its MLB-HALBERD laser blade and the enemy AC was split in half. The Controller AC then boosted forward as the enemy AC burn and exploded eventually._

_Flasback end_

As Cherub is letting the time pass, its sensors detected an organic unit on its radar at 11 o'clock. Its radar readings do not display any movements from said unit. Immediately, Cherub looked at the direction where the said unit is located which is just in the front. It then used its HUD's magnifier feature to get a better look at the unit without the need to get close.

Once Cherub got a clear view, it saw the maid who was looking at it from afar.

"What do you want human?", Cherub asked in a robotic voice.

The maid, considering that she's already spotted, went out of the open and came closer to the 'golem'.

"N-Nothing, I am master Louise's personal maid and I just took a look at the golem that she summoned", the maid replied.

"Understood", Cherub said, "What is your name then?"

"I am Siesta", the maid said, "Well, I'll be leaving now, there are more chores that I need to do. See you later".

Cherub watched as Siesta went away after introducing herself.

In Cherub's HUD, a profile of Siesta is displayed. The following are shown together with Siesta's picture at the right part of the HUD:

"_Name: Siesta_

_Race: Human_

_Gender: Female_

_Recognizable features: Short black hair, White skin, and Steel blue eyes_

_Height: __162 cm (5'4")_

_Dimensions: 83/60/85_

_Human Heat Signature Code: SES-5518_

_Profile pending further updates…"_

The moment Cherub was finished in making Siesta's profile, a sudden explosion suddenly erupted. Immediately turning at the location of the explosion, Cherub activated its thermal vision and spotted Louise thanks to the human heat signature code it assigned earlier to her. A follow-up scan showed that her condition is fine and reported no physical injuries.

After some time, Cherub heard a murmur.

"That explosion… that girl again?", a male student said.

"Yeah, no doubt about it", his companion replied.

* * *

**PS: About the flashback part, I'm not sure if my narrative about the "Earth 20XX" part is accurate. Anyways, I'm a bit sure that it somehow makes sense regarding AC3's setting.**

**I'm not sure when I will be able to upload Chapter 4 of this. However, I can ensure that it will eventually come up and it will be worth the wait.**


	4. Chapter 4: Target Confirmed

**Author's Note: Man, this chapter took me long. But, this is worth the effort once you read this chapter especially the part about the duel with Guiche. Oh yeah, Chapter 18 of TWGOK: Beyond God's Mask is almost finished, just a few finishing touches and it's ready to roll out. Anyways, Enjoy reading Chapter 4! This will be exciting. Please R&R so I could see the results.**

* * *

**==========Chapter 4: Target Confirmed==========**

The explosion done in the classroom where Louise entered left a trail of black smoke pouring out of the window of her classroom. Fortunately, the explosion that ensued wasn't enough to actually blow off the building to bits of rocks so the structural integrity of the building wasn't compromised.

Inside the classroom, black smoke continued to fill up the room. Some moments later, the smoke subsided and revealed chairs and tables to be in utter disarray that some sort of battle took place.

"Oww, that hurts", the busty redhead said as she went up through the rubble, "Can't you cast anything that doesn't explode?"

"Just shut up Zerbst!", Louise yelled.

The busty redhead from before is Kirche Augusta Frederica von Anhalt Zerbst. She's a well-endowed triangle class fire mage and well-known around the Academy. It is said that almost every single guy had laid their eyes on her thanks to her physical assets.

"Dangerous", Kirche's blue-haired friend said. The small girl accompanying Kirche is named Tabitha like Kirche, she's a triangle class mage although specializing in wind magic as well as in water magic. She's also quite strange considering her quiet and calm attitude.

"Montmorency, are you alright?", the blonde-haired guy from before asked as he tried to help the blonde-haired girl with curly hairstyle.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks Guiche", Montmorency said as she got up from the rubble with a help from the blonde-haired guy.

The blonde-haired guy is named Guiche de Gramont. He's a dot-class earth mage and can be considered a womanizer if one would consider his flashy shirt with frills and even his wand which resembles a rose.

The blonde-haired girl that he's helping to get up is named Montmorency Margarita la Fere de Montmorency. Like Guiche, she's a dot-class mage although she specializes in water magic.

As the smoke continues to subside, a middle-aged woman in purple-colored witch clothing is seen lying unconscious on the floor and, considering what happened, is likely knocked unconscious by Louise's explosion earlier.

"Gah! Mrs. Chevreuse!", a female student said.

"Somebody! Try to patch her up!", a male student said.

Some moments later, Cherub saw Louise went out of the building that she's in an hour ago with an angry look at her face. At the same time, Cherub saw Louise going straight it/him and he it/he prepared to meet her.

'Are there any problems master?", Cherub asked.

"Nothing, just follow me to the dining hall", Louise replied.

Suddenly, Kirche and Tabitha appeared beside Louise.

"My, my, are you the golem that Louise summoned?", Kirche asked.

"Yes", Cherub replied.

"Wow, I never expected to Zero to summon something like you", Kirche said.

"Stop insulting me in front of my familiar Zerbst!", Louise yelled.

Kirche just ignored Louise which just further angered the latter.

"My name is Kirche Augusta Frederica von Anhalt Zerbst", Kirche said, "And since you could talk, can you tell me your name?".

"My name is Cherub", Cherub replied.

In Cherub's HUD, Kirche is locked-on inside the targeting reticule and an identity scan commenced. After some moments, the following were shown with Kirche's picture located at the right part of the HUD:

_Name: Kirche Augusta Frederica von Anhalt Zerbst_

_Race: Human_

_Gender: Female_

_Recognizable features: Red hair, tall stature, oversized mammary glands, and bangs_

_Height: 171 cm (5'7)_

_Dimensions: 94/63/95_

_Human Heat Signature Code: KFV-6614_

_Profile pending further updates…"_

After Cherub was finished in making Kirche's profile, it/he turned its/his attention to Tabitha who was reading a book but in truth was staring at it/him. Of course, Cherub saw this thanks to its/his HUD which can detect eyesight trajectories and one such result turned out that Tabitha's eyesight trajectory is aimed at it/him.

"Don't joke around human", Cherub said in a robotic tone, "what is your name and intention?".

Tabitha was shocked by the fact that Cherub found out that it/he found her staring at it/him. She thought that Cherub will never found as it/he is a golem and golems aren't smart enough to notice details like this. Either way, since she's found out, she thought it best to comply.

"I am Tabitha", she replied.

In Cherub's HUD, it/he did the same thing that it/he did to Kirche. The HUD displayed the following:

_Name: Tabitha_

_Race: Human_

_Gender: Female_

_Recognizable features: Short blue hair, short stature, glasses and long wooden staff_

_Height: 142 cm (4'8)_

_Dimensions: 68/49/67_

_Human Heat Signature Code: TAB-1112_

_Profile pending further updates…"_

"Alright, show's over", Louise said, "Now familiar, follow me".

"Understood", Cherub said.

Seeing Louise and her strange 'golem' familiar depart, Kirche let out sigh.

"That golem really piques my curiosity", Kirche replied.

Tabitha just stared at the Louise's 'golem' as it gets further away.

"Very interesting familiar", she said.

A couple of minutes later…

Louise and Cherubim eventually made it to the dining hall which was called Alviss Dining Hall. It was quite a large and spacious building capable of holding at least 100 students at once. The building is designed similar to an elegant European medieval-style building.

"Just wait outside here", Louise said before going towards the dining hall's gate, "and you can wander around but just don't do anything stupid".

"Understood", Cherub said.

"Good", Louise replied, "Just wait for an hour".

As soon as Louise was inside the building and outside its/his sight range, Cherub started to wander around the Academy. Since Louise told it/him that it/him could wander as long as it/he doesn't do anything stupid, Cherub started wandering the academy and immediately created a layout of the entire academy in his memory map function. It took him an hour to finish the memory map of the Academy although it/he wasn't able to include the underground dungeons as these areas are off-limits.

The moment Cherub finished making the memory map of the Academy, it/he spotted a familiar figure from afar. Using its/his HUD's magnifier feature, the familiar figure turned out to be Siesta who happened to be serving cakes to students as it is lunch time at the moment.

"Excuse me, Cherub", a voice came from behind said.

Cherub looked turned around to see who called him. The person turned out to be Colbert.

"Cherub, can I see the runes on the back of your left hand for cataloging?", Colbert asked.

"Understood", Cherub said.

Cherub then extended its/his left hand enough for Colbert to get a look at the runes etched on the back of its/his left hand.

"Hmm… these runes are unique", Colbert said, "I don't recall seeing these runes in the past.

Colbert then sketched Cherub's familiar runes on a piece of paper that he's carrying with him. Once he's done, Colbert bid Cherub goodbye as he'll be going to the library to add Cherub's runes in the catalog.

"See you later Cherub", Colbert said as he left.

Once Colbert is completely out of its/his sight, Cherub was about to go on another location when it/he saw Siesta suddenly being "assaulted" by a guy.

In reality, however, the guy that is "assaulting" Siesta is just trying to seduce her with his playboy antics. Of course, being a purely scientific artificial intelligence-driven robot, Cherub didn't see it that way and, instead, considered it as an "assault".

Not wasting any effort, Cherub immediately approached the guy and Siesta.

Once Cherub is within hearing distance of the guy, it/he said "Let the lady go".

The guy, who is a noble, turned around Cherub and said "And just who are you to tell me that?"

Cherub didn't say anything after what the noble said. Instead, he just repeated what he said.

"I repeat, let the lady go", Cherub said.

The noble twitched a bit on what Cherub did and, obviously, he didn't like what was said to him.

"How dare you say something to me like that?!", the blonde-haired noble said.

Just as Cherub is going to reply, a brown-haired girl suddenly appeared.

"Guiche-sama!", the brown-haired girl said.

The moment the blondie-haired noble heard it, he fell back a little.

"Guh! K-Ka-Katie", Guiche said with a shocked voice although he tries to keep it down.

"Guiche-sama, I've been looking around for you up to now, where have you been?", Katie said in a concerned tone.

Noticing that the blonde-haired noble is getting nervous because of the girl, Cherub tried to leave.

"Just where you think you're going?!", the blonde-haired noble asked quite angrily., "I'm not through with you yet!".

As Cherub turned around, another girl with blonde-curls approached Guiche from behind.

"G-Guiche, just who is this girl?", the newly arrived girl said.

The blonde-haired noble is Guiche and the question just made him more nervous.

"Ah, Mo-Montmorency, I can explain this", Guiche said.

Montmorency, seeing the girl beside Guiche and Guiche's way of action, immediately thought that the girl beside him is his other girl.

"G-Guiche", Montmorency said in a low tone with an obvious sign of being pissed.

"Guiche-sama, what's the meaning of this?", Katie then said and, from the look on her face, it's just a matter of time before she ends up crying.

"Take this playboy!", Montmorency yelled as she slapped Guiche along with Katie.

After slapping Guiche, Montmorency walked away and a very scary aura is emanating from her clearly hinting that she's pissed. Katie, on the other hand, ran away back to her dorm room after slapping Guiche as well while crying.

The onlooking crowd laughed hard at Guiche as the two girls walked away from the scene.

"Hey Guiche, you got dump twice at once!", a noble from the laughing crowd said.

"Looks like your playboy skills are slowly fading huh", another one from the crowd said.

As the crowd is laughing, Guiche got back up to his feet and his face is marked with two large slaps on both cheeks, one at each cheek.

Once he got back up, he turned his attention to Cherub who was watching the event for the entire time.

"Insolent golem! How dare you shatter the dignity of two girls?!", Guiche said.

"Who is insolent golem", Cherub asked not knowing that the 'insolent golem' pertains to him.

Guiche sighed for a moment and said "Golems like you are stupid earthen creations that follow their masters".

For some odd reason, Cherub felt somewhat annoyed by what Guiche said to it/him.

In its/his HUD, the following are shown:

_Name: Guiche de Gramont_

_Race: Human_

_Gender: Male_

_Recognizable features: Blonde hair, flashy attire, rose and playboy attitude_

_Height: 175 cm (5'9)_

_Dimensions: Cannot be ascertained due to gender male_

_Human Heat Signature Code: GDG-8825_

_Profile pending further updates…"_

_Combat Alert!_

_Target sighted at 12 o'clock_

_Assigning hostile combat designation TGT-GDG-8255_

_Beginning scans_

_Scanning…_

_Weak spots confirmed_

_All combat scans complete_

_Saved combat file will be usable once combat mode is engaged._

_End of analysis._

As Cherub made its/his scans, Guiche suddenly challenged Cherub to a duel.

"I, Guiche de Gramont, challenge you to a duel", Guiche said, "I cannot let the reputation of two girls be stained just because of some mere golem".

If Cherub has a mouth, it/he would have likely let out an evil grin the moment Guiche challenged it/him to a duel. Since it/he had already analyzed Guiche and obtained the necessary combat data to take him down in the event of a battle, Cherub immediately accepted the duel.

"I accept the duel", Cherub said in a calm and disinterested tone, "So should we begin?"

Seeing Cherub appearing to be uninterested in the duel, Guiche got annoyed but chose to keep up his act for the mean time.

"No, the duel will begin at Vestri Court. I'll wait for you there. If you forfeit, you are free not to go", Guiche said as he goes away and walk towards the Vestri Court.

Cherub then turned its/his attention to Siesta who was obviously scared of what's going to happen in the next few moments. As Cherub is about to call out her name, Siesta immediately ran away.

Kirche and Tabitha followed the crowd as they go to the Vestri Court. Kirche is very interested to see what kind of tricks Louise's golem familiar will pull off. Tabitha, on the other hand, just tagged along Kirche as she doesn't have anything better to do.

At the Headmaster's office, old man Osmond is taking a nice relaxing rest while sitting in his chair. Suddenly, a white mouse suddenly went to him and started whining about something.

"Oh, I see", Osmond said, "all white… but I still guess that Ms. Longueville will look good in black. Here you go Motsognir".

Osmond then gave the white mouse who happened to be his familiar a nut to eat.

Suddenly, Ms. Longueville stood up blushed and went to Osmond.

"Headmaster, if you do that again, I'm going to report you to the palace", Ms. Longueville replied.

Upon hearing Ms. Longueville's words, Osmond then rise up suddenly and said "I won't become the headmaster of this Academy if I'm afraid of those fools at the palace!"

"And don't be prissy just because you got peeked. At this rate, you'll never get married. And –", Osmond added.

Osmond was unable to finish what he was about to say as Ms. Longueville suddenly started kicking him down on the floor.

"Just die you perverted old man!", Ms. Longueville said angrily as she kicked the poor old man on the ground.

"Ouch!", Osmond yelled as Ms. Longueville kicked him, "How can you do this to a senior? Gah! Stop kicking me! I'm sorry".

Osmond got himself abused and the only thing that saved him in this scenario is a porter suddenly barging in to report something.

"Headmaster!", the porter said as he entered the room.

At this point, Ms. Longueville has already got back to her desk and started sorting up documents as if nothing happened. On the other hand, Osmond slowly got back up to his feet before turning to face the porter.

'What is it?", Osmond asked.

"There's a duel going on at Vestri Court", the porter replied.

"Who are the involved parties?", Osmond asked again.

"It's Guiche de Gramont and Louise's golem familiar", the porter answered.

"Hmm… Ms. Longueville, bet 100 gold on Louise's familiar for me", Osmond said.

"Gambling within Academy grounds is forbidden sir", Ms. Longueville replied.

Osmond sighed for a moment disappointed that he can't even gamble. Either way, he activated a crystal ball using his wand and turned it into a surveillance-like camera. Three people in the Headmaster's office: Osmond, Ms. Longueville, and the porter watched as the events unfold.

Meanwhile at Louise, she is busy finding her familiar until she heard a chatter.

"Hey, let's go to the Vestri Court, I heard a duel's going to happen there", a male student said.

"Really, so who are the ones that will be fighting", his companion said.

"I heard its Guiche and his opponent will be Louise's golem familiar", the male student said.

"Now, that's going to be an interesting sight", his companion replied, "And since I'm an earth mage, I'm quite interested on what that golem could do. It kinda looks very cool".

"Yeah, just hope that Guiche won't reduce Louise's golem to scrap metal", the male student replied.

"Hey, don't kill the mood!", his companion replied.

Before they could talk more, Louise suddenly interrupted them.

"What did you two say?!", Louise asked in a yell.

"Eh?! Zero?!", the two male students said.

"Don't call me Zero!", Louise retorted, "Tell me everything you know about this now".

Some moments later at Vestri Court, Guiche is already there and the crowd is supporting him.

"Go Guiche! But don't turn Louise's golem to scrap metal", one of the spectators said, "It's a shame to ruin such a work of art".

"Never worry as I, Guiche de Gramont, will finish this duel without resorting to brute force", Guiche said.

As the crowd cheers Guiche to win, some students began to back off as Cherub is entering the duel arena.

"So, you really did come golem", Guiche said, "Golems really are dumb, they don't know when to back off".

"Are those your last words, human?", Cherub asked.

The crowd as well as Guiche took Cherub's words as just a joke.

At the same time, Louise appeared on scene and walked up to Cherub ordering him to stand down and apologize.

"You just challenged a noble", Louise said, "you will just get killed".

"Killed?", Cherub said in a questioning tone, "As the human on the other side said, I am just a golem and golems don't have any life".

"Should I get destroyed", Cherub continued, "you can just create a new one to replace me".

"But dueling is against the rules", Louise said, "And besides, you are my familiar and it is my responsibility to ensure that you are in good condition at all times".

Guiche heard Louise words and said "Don't worry Louise, I can assure to you that your golem will be in one piece once this duel is over. And besides, duels between nobles are the only ones forbidden, those between a noble and a commoner aren't".

Louise though of something good to reply with but Cherub just stopped her.

"All of the so-called familiars around her have their worth", Cherub said, "right now, I'm going to prove what I am capable of".

Louise just stared at what Cherub said to her.

The duel began shortly after.

"My runic name is Guiche the Bronze", Guiche said, "And this bronze valkyrie will be your opponent".

Just after his words, a skeletal bronze valkyrie appeared. It is armed with a spear and one oversized fist.

"And considering the fact that I am a mage", Guiche added, "I'm expected to fight like one so I wouldn't be sorry for using powers given to me by god to show your place golem".

Cherub then scanned the newly summoned valkyrie. On its/his HUD, it showed that the valkyrie was indeed made of bronze and just weigh over 80 kilograms including its spear.

For a human, such weight would be a real pain if it hit him at high speed. But for somebody like Cherub, the valkyrie in front of it/him is nothing but a moving barrel made of tin.

"So this is what you're bragging about human?", Cherub asked, "Did you just challenged me to fight some tin barrels?"

Guiche got angry at Cherub's remark.

"How dare you insolent golem!", Guiche answered back, "Valkyrie charge!"

Just immediately, Guiche's valkyrie charged at Cherub.

However, as the valkyrie is charging, Cherub's weapons suddenly de-materialized out of his hands thanks to the Advanced Matter Storage System except the MWB-MX/WINGS.

"Your petty contraptions are inferior to do any damage", Cherub said, "Even if I am unarmed, I could take your contraptions down".

At this statement, Guiche is now extremely angry.

"You'll pay for you ignorance golem!", Guiche said angrily.

As the valkyrie is to do a nice punch at Cherub, it/he just parried the attack by catching the valkyrie's fist with its/his own hand and tossing it in the air. Guiche's valkyrie never came back down. Considering a clash between bronze and enhanced titanium, which is what Cherub's body is made of, the latter wins even if it isn't enhanced.

"As I said", Cherub said again, "your contraptions are inferior to do any damage. Just surrender immediately human".

"A Gramont will never surrender!", Guiche yelled as he summoned more valkyries.

Cherub then walked towards Guiche with the approaching valkyries getting slapped with Cherub's titanium-alloyed hand and disintegrating to pieces as they got hit.

A head piece from one of Guiche's golems landed in front of Louise, she never expected that her 'golem' familiar is this strong as she watched Cherub slapped the valkyries aside as if they were just flies. At the same time, she got scared when she imagined the consequences if Cherub were to go against a human army. Blood and flesh lying on the ground are what she thought. The crowd, on the other hand, was shocked and silent on what they are seeing at the moment.

As the last of the valkyries were trashed, Cherub suddenly stopped moving midway to Guiche. Guiche took this opportunity to summon eight valkyries where he assigned two of them to guard him while the rest charged at Cherub.

In Cherub's HUD, however, the PLS-EYE's "Pin-Point" Target Lock-On Mode activated and this caused Cherub's gold colored eyes to turn blood red as well as a medium sized lock-box to appear in the center of the HUD with every target being declared "locked-on". At the same time, two non-activated MLB-TWILIGHT laser blades materialized right on Cherub's forearm and the back and the MWB-MX/WINGS expanded.

The crowd as well as Louise and even Guiche were puzzled on the sudden change in the colors of Cherub's eyes as well as the things that appeared on Cherub's forearms and even at its/his back. At the same time, the sun just shone brighter and made Cherub shine in bright white light. Kirche and Tabitha are now interested especially the latter at the unexpected development.

Suddenly, Cherub's MLB-TWILIGHT laser blades activated and let out energies of blue light bursting out of the blades. The MWB-MX-WINGS then gushed out with blue light implying that Cherub is ready to overboost as well.

The crowd stood like statues at what they saw. Cherub's blades, the light gushing out of his back boosters and even it/him shining in bright white light, made everyone speechless. It wasn't a golem that was standing there…

It was the angel of death… and poised to claim the soul of the sinner for the final judgment to be casted on it.

Within a second, Cherub boosted towards Guiche and unleashed an x-slash laser wave blade maneuver that literally tore the advancing vakyries. The valkyries were reduced to a molten pile of metal upon being hit. The sudden event caused some to faint due to what they saw. Kirche was completely lost in thought on what she saw while Tabitha didn't even notice that she dropped her book due to it. As for Louise, her mind can't comprehend what she is seeing: A golem that is too fast and is capable of doing things that even a square-class mage's golem can't do.

Guiche is now scared especially after seeing the two valkyries guarding him reduced to a smoldering pile of molten metal with each taken down by one of Cherub's laser blades. In a second, one of Cherub's laser blades is aimed at Guiche while the other is raised above as if it is going to slice the sun above although they were far enough to not injure Guiche with the laser blades' bio-shock feature that damages anything near the blade within a certain distance.

"Any last words before I terminate your existence human?", Cherub asked.

'No! I don't want to die!", Guiche then said as he cry and fell on the ground, "I-I yield! Just spare my life!"

Louise then snapped out of her thoughts just in time to see the current situation.

"Cherub, as your master, you are not to kill him", Louise ordered Cherub.

In a second, Cherub complied and the laser blades disappeared. It/he then turned away from Guiche and started walking away as if nothing happened.

The crowd was still speechless by what they saw. Right now, they aren't sure if Louise's so-called familiar golem really is one considering what had just happened.

At the Headmaster's office, everyone was also speechless. They can't comprehend what had transpired like the students.

"That golem", Ms. Longueville, "Just what is it?"

Osmond is still silent when the duel ended.

"Ms. Valliere had just summoned something that is beyond our ability to comprehend", Osmond stated.

Osmond then turned at the porter and said "Go to Ms. Valliere and tell her that I want to meet her and her familiar at my office".

The porter then nodded and went away to tell Louise about it.

Suddenly, Colbert came barging in the office and yelling.

"Headmaster!", Colbert said as soon as he saw Osmond at the office, "I discovered something about the runes on Louise's golem and it's the same as the Gandalfr!".

Osmond's mood then changed from calm to serious.

"Ms. Longueville, can you go out for a minute?", Osmond said, "We have something important to talk about.

Ms. Longueville immediately complied and went out of the office although she had a mysterious look on her face.

* * *

**PS: The x-blade function is taken from the mission in AC3: Last Raven where you have to take down the Pulverizer piloted by Evangel. It's deadly if you get caught by it. The TGT-GDG-8255 combat designation is a nod to Matthias Rust who successfully landed on Moscow with a Cessna plane without being shot down by Soviet Air defenses. The PVO assigned Rust combat number 8255.**


	5. Chapter 5: Information Relay

**Author's Notes: I have heard some oversights regarding the last chapter from the reviews; these are the answers for those and the answers are based on facts in the ZnT universe that I am able to piece together:**

**1) You do realize that the minute Louise summoned a giant robot for a familiar, one that happens to be armed, things that happened in canon may not happen?**

The crowd saw Cherub armed with just a musket-looking weapon (MWG-KARASAWA-REVILE) and a shield (KES-ES/REFLECT) which they both consider to be inferior at the moment it/he was summoned. Muskets in Halkeginia are considered inferior by nobles that can cast magic because of the musket's requirement to reload after each shot so they thought that Cherub's "musket" is also as lame as that. Besides, most nobles are too overconfident due to their ability to cast magic so they just dismissed the fact that Cherub was armed with weapons. Their logic is that magic prevails over weapons. They thought as well that the design of the musket and shield is just for show.

**2) Even Guiche wouldn't be stupid enough to challenge a giant metal being to a duel. You don't mess with something the size of small house, and with weapons. Especially if it's intelligent. It's eight meters tall: Easily over 4 or 5 times the size of an average human being.**

True, but consider the fact that Guiche must also have thought that since Cherub is classified as a "golem", he assumed that his earth magic would be more than enough as, after all, golems are creations of earth mages like him which gives him the idea that he'll win no matter how large the golem is. Besides, he thought that he could outsmart it since golems are supposed to be dumb without a master and the weapons there are just for show. Furthermore, according to information that I read, familiars reflect their masters. In this regard, Guiche might have also thought that Cherub is a loser since it/he is the familiar of Louise the Zero. And, most importantly, his pride started kicking in at the moment which is a trait of most nobles. Nobles usually won't back down from a challenge especially if they think/see that their opponent isn't a noble or can't cast magic. Moreover, he knows full well that his peers will likely be expecting a duel between him and Cherub over what happened anyways. Additional info, Guiche doesn't know about the enhanced titanium plating that constitutes Cherub's framework which is way too superior over bronze in terms of defense and durability against damage.

**3) The golem excuse would end when it started talking. AFAIK, golems in the ZnTverse don't talk.**

That's true. But bear in mind that people in Halkeginia doesn't know about Armored Cores, much less Controller Agents so they assumed that Cherub is a golem due to its/his external layout despite its ability to talk. They must have also assumed that it's just an odd trait of the golem especially since Louise is the one who summoned it. Heck, they might even think that Cherub's talking ability was because of an error in Louise's summoning spell. Even if they dropped the idea of Cherub being a golem, they basically don't have an idea of what Cherub is considering the reason stated in the first sentence.

**4) You can't have some of the events as they happened in canon with a giant, emotionless, AI controlled machine.**

Just wait; this is a challenge for me. I can make this story very exciting while retaining the canonical events although I would use some non-existent events at times or even alter the canon events "slightly" to accommodate the story. The flow of events will be a "bit" different but they'll still make sense. I'm also a bit fond of Aigis' character development in P3. I am aiming to develop Cherub along the same lines as her and this would be quite challenging for me on how to integrate such development on the canon events in ZnT.

**5) But how it could do the X-Blade slash if it only had one laser blade?**

Cherub is armed with a** pair** of laser blades meaning two laser blades and even with the Human Plus similar to the biped Pulverizer piloted by Evangel although the blades are mounted on both its/his forearms. As an Armored Core fan, blade waves become available once Human Plus is installed in the AC. So, the X-Blade slash is technically possible especially with two blades mounted on both forearms. BTW, look at Chapter 1 and you'll see the laser blades mounted on both arms.

**6) And here I thought it would use his back weapons instead**

Guiche can be compared to an E-ranked Raven. Considering that, there's no need to use the laser cannons especially the CWX-LIC-12L. It would be just plain overkill once it hit Guiche.

**Question**: Is the MWG-KARASAWA and an energy shield looks really scary?

Spoiler: The Phase Matter Alternator System makes a debut usage in this chapter.

PS: I'm sorry for the iffy parts; it's just been a month since I started writing fanfics here so I'll likely have some mistakes while writing story chapters.

About Guiche challenging Cherub to a duel, let's just say that his stupid sense of pride got a better hold on him in this duel. He might not be that stupid in a sense of rightful decision but hi pride always gets him into trouble.

**Sorry if this update got too long to be uploaded. My internet connection crashed so I wasn't able to upload it earlier. Anyway, enjoy the new chapter.**

* * *

**Chapter 5: Information Relay**

Vestri Court is still filled with silence even after the conclusion of the duel. Many students still stood like statues after what they had just witnessed. Cherub is walking away from the scene after Louise ordered it/him to not kill Guiche. Louise followed it/him after seeing it/him walk away.

Just as Louise is about to run to catch up with Cherub, Kirche got up to her and said "Louise, did you just summoned the angel of death?"

Louise turned around to face Kirche and replied.

"I don't know but I will find out", Louise said before turning away to catch up with Cherub.

Kirche just stared at Louise as she ran towards her now-mysterious familiar.

"Extremely dangerous", Tabitha said as she dusted the dirt that clanged to her book when she dropped it due to shock from the last part of the duel. Kirche just asked Tabitha is she's okay to which the latter responded with a yes.

Guiche, upon seeing Cherub leave the area, immediately mustered up the strength to get back up to his feet and ran away as fast as he could. Suddenly, a large piece of metal suddenly came crashing on the ground just in front of Guiche.

The moment the large piece of metal slammed into the ground just next to Guiche, it caused him to stumble backwards again. Upon closer inspection, it reveals that it is his bronze valkyrie that Cherub tossed in the air in the opening part of the duel. Guiche stared in horror as he saw the large and deep dent on his bronze golem and thought that he would have been dead if Cherub went full force at him.

It also caused him to get lost in thought temporarily. The moment he got his thoughts back again, the first thing he did was to run away like what he did before his bronze valkyrie crashed in front of him. His familiar who happened to be a mole-like creature, immediately fled when Cherub activated its/his laser blades during the duel.

At the same time, Siesta saw everything. Like the others, she was speechless on how the duel happened.

"I-It can't be", she whispered in a low tone before running away.

"Cherub, stop for a moment!", Louise yelled as she tried to catch up with Cherub.

In Cherub's HUD, a follow up analysis that turned out to be a battle report of sorts displayed the following:

_======================================Battle results==================================== _

_**Weapon conditions:**_

_MWG-KARASAWA-REVILE - CONDTION [GREEN] MLB-TWILIGHT - CONDITION [GREEN] [USED] [COMMENCING MAINTENANCE] MWG-MGE/1000 - CONDITION [GREEN] KES-ES/REFLECT - CONDITION [GREEN] MWC-LQ/25-14 - CONDITION [GREEN] MWC-OC/8RO - CONDITION [GREEN] CWC-CNGE-500 - CONDITION [GREEN] CWX-LIC-12L - CONDITION [GREEN] CWI-FMHS-EN - CONDITION [GREEN] _

_**Booster conditions:**_

_CBT-FLEET-X05 - CONDITION [GREEN] [USED] [COMMENCING MAINTENANCE] MWB-MX/WINGS - CONDITION [GREEN] [USED] [COMMENCING MAINTENANCE]_

_**AC Part conditions:**_

_CHD-GLITCH-ABSOLUTE - CONDITION [GREEN] CCL-08-NERA - CONDITION [GREEN] CAM-15-SOL/E - CONDITION [GREEN] MLM-MX/066 - CONDITION [GREEN] CBT-FLEET-X05 - CONDITION [GREEN] PLS-EYE - CONDITION [GREEN] MGP-VE/INFINITE - CONDITION [GREEN] RMR-BLIZZARD - CONDITION [GREEN] _

_**Extension condition:**_

_MEST-MXA/SHADOW - CONDITION [GREEN]_

After the battle report is finished, a sudden status report popped out in Cherub's HUD. It says:

_Unidentified energy build-up detected!_

_Commencing scan…_

_Energy source detected at left hand_

_Commencing scan on energy build-up…_

_Energy cannot be identified_

_Commencing additional scans…_

_Results: unidentified energy source gives data about weapons held to boost combat performance in using held weapons. Incompatible with all default mounted weapons as mastery of these weapons have been completed before but increases power output, reaction time, and accuracy._

_Notice: Energy build-up detected during last battle. Currently, the unidentified energy is dormant. Sign of it being activated is the runes at the left hand glowing while holding weapons._

Once the battle report was completely analyzed, Cherub turned around to face Louise who was panting as she approached it/him.

"Is there anything wrong master?", Cherub asked.

"Alright", Louise said, "I was worried about you that you could end up getting destroyed".

"As I said master, that human is inferior much like his contraptions", Cherub said, "Therefore, I can't be destroyed by those".

As Louise is about to say something, the porter ordered by Osmond arrived.

"Ms. Louise", the porter said, "Old Osmond wants to talk with you and your familiar".

"Eh?", Louise exclaimed with a fearful look on her face.

She is thinking what the headmaster wants with her. Could it be about the duel earlier and she'll be scolded at for putting a fellow noble's life in danger?

Cherub stared at the porter with its/his eyes that are still blood red thanks to the fact that the PLS-EYE's "Pin-Point" Mode is still activated.

The porter, of course, is scared as he stared at Cherub's eyes especially after remembering what happened to Guiche's bronze valkyries just a few moments ago. One false move and he'll be dead.

"U-Uhm… I'll be going now", the porter said who obviously is trying to find an excuse to get away from the monstrous 'golem' in front of him, "Headmaster needs me to attend to other tasks".

With that, the porter left although his feet are shaking as he walks away.

Louise let out a sigh before she continued talking.

"Alright Cherub", Louise said, "We should head to the Headmaster's office now".

As Louise began to walk, she suddenly face palmed herself.

"Wait", Louise said, "You're too big to fit in the headmaster's office so what I am supposed to do?"

"I can get around that problem master", Cherub said.

Suddenly, Cherub started to glow in a blinding light which caused Louise to cover her eyes as well as those that happen to watch the master and familiar conversation.

"Oh Founder!", a female student said as she think that Louise's familiar might be on a killing spree this time.

In Cherub's HUD, the following are shown:

_PHASE MATTER ALTERNATOR SYSTEM ACTIVATED_

_TARGET: SELF_

_COMMENCING MATTER ALTERATION…_

_*A digital wireframe of Cherub's framework is rotating as a progress bar fills up*_

_MATTER CONVERSION COMPLETE_

Just as the light that Cherub surrounded it/him subsided, Louise stopped covering her eyes to see what happened. The thing in front of her shocked her as well as the others that saw everything.

A young man as tall as Guiche is in the place where Cherub used to be in. For the girls currently seeing the event, the young man is quite handsome with short black hair, a youthful-looking face and a well-chiseled body considering the build of his body beneath his clothes although it is unassuming and dressed in a white shirt under a gray jacket with a matching gray pants. He is also wearing reinforced black shoes. His most distinguishing feature is his blood red eyes similar to Cherub. His entire attire bears resemblance to Cherub's color scheme.

The next few moments were filled with silence. Everyone was speechless at the unexpected turn of events. Louise's dangerous familiar suddenly disappeared and a handsome young man just appeared in its place. Louise is also speechless at the sight of the young man in front of her. Her heartbeat suddenly started beating fast and she's blushing red.

The only thing that broke the silence was when the young man talked and it shocked everyone.

"Master is something the matter?", the young man said in a robotic voice, "Your heart beat is increasing at a fast rate".

Upon hearing Cherub's voice, Louise's mind finally snapped back to reality.

"C-Cherub?!", Louise said.

Louise looked around and still didn't saw Cherub except for the young man. Finally, she ended up in a conclusion. Looking at the young man, she asked him.

"I-Is that you Cherub?", Louise asked the young man in front of her.

"Yes, it is me master", the young man replied.

Louise's face slowly became red at this confirmation.

"W-Wait", Louise said, "Then what about that enormous size of yours for the whole time?"

"Master, it was my real form", Cherub said, "And this form is what I use when I need to go in areas where my real form cannot fit in".

With just a simple matter conversion, the entire atmosphere suddenly changed as if the duel didn't even happen. Many of the female students suddenly developed an interest towards Cherub which is likely because of its/his human form. Among the crowd watching, Kirche and Tabitha also saw the entire event.

"My… That familiar looks very interesting", Kirche said, "It seems that I got a new target as well".

Right now, Kirche appears to have developed an interest towards Cherub much like the other female students. However, she seems jealous at Louise as her own flame lizard familiar, Flame, is completely outmatched in all respects like power, skills, speed, intellect and even quality. Even though Flame could use fire-based attacks and abilities, those skills are worthless against Cherub considering the events in the duel earlier and now. Kirche looked at the other female students and some of the young female servants who also have same look as her.

"Looks like this won't be easy", Kirche said.

Tabitha's interest also developed when she saw Cherub transform into its/his human form. She thinks that she must keep an eye on this subject immediately. She doesn't like her uncle to be hearing something as interesting as this from other sources. However, just thinking about her uncle gives her a disgusting feeling. Moreover, Cherub saw her staring at it/him earlier as well which she didn't even anticipated which makes Louise's familiar to be something else.

"Just follow me", Louise said although her face is still blushing red.

Cherub immediately complied.

Meanwhile at the headmaster's office…

"Colbert, the issue about Gandalfr is a very serious matter", Osmond said.

"I know but I found evidence regarding this matter", Colbert replied.

Osmond let out a sight and said "While that is a very serious matter, you might be right about it professor".

"What do you mean?", Colbert asked.

"Look at this", Osmond said pointing at the crystal ball.

Colbert looked at the crystal ball and was shocked by what he saw.

"No way", Colbert said completely fazed as he saw Cherub slice the bronze valkyries effortlessly while boosting towards Guiche. The last part where Cherub aimed its/his laser blades at Guiche made him shiver.

"Right now", Osmond said as he let Colbert digest everything that he saw, "I asked Ms. Vallierie and her familiar to go here".

"Wait", Colbert replied, "Cherub is too big to fit in here, so how is he supposed to enter the office?"

Osmond face palmed himself as he didn't even realized that.

"Well, I guess we should ju-", Osmond was never able to finish what he was about to say as somebody knocked on the door.

"This is me Louise and I am with Cherub right now, can we come in?", Louise said.

Osmond and Colbert looked at each other before the former spoke.

"Please Ms. Vallierie, come in", Osmond said.

The door opened revealing Louise and an unidentified young man behind her.

"Ms. Vallierie, who is this young man?", Colbert asked.

"Ah… This is Cherub", Louise said although she is still blushing at the moment.

"How is that possible?", Colbert asked with a sign of disbelief in his face.

"I could alter my structural integrity as well as things around me at my discretion", Cherub said.

Just hearing the robotic tone voice is more than enough to convince Colbert that the young man is truly Cherub.

"Hoo, I've never expected that your familiar could pull off such impressive tricks", Osmond said, "Now, on with the topic".

Louise is paling a bit on what that might be.

"You see, the duel earlier resulted in one of your peers nearly dying", Osmond said, "So, I'm asking what's the reason for the duel in the first place".

Louise is unable to answer as the duel itself started at the time it was about to begin. She didn't even know why it started in the first place.

As she was thinking of what to reply, Cherub suddenly talked.

"My master has nothing to do with this matter. In truth, it was my discretion that led to the duel itself", Cherub said.

Osmond turned his attention on Cherub with an interested look on his face. Colbert, on the other hand, is skeptical on what does Cherub mean by "discretion".

"And what might be that discretion be?", Osmond asked Cherub.

"The male human that I fought in the duel is assaulting a female human when I found him", Cherub replied, "And I considered it as a hostile presence that must be stopped".

'So you interrupted then?", Osmond replied.

"Yes", Cherub said, "because it the correct course of action that needs to be taken".

"Hmm… you are very intelligent for a golem, Cherub", Osmond replied.

"What is this golem that all people here are referring me to?", Cherub asked, "The guy that I fought told me inaccurate information on it".

"Golems are non-living entities aligned with earth magic", Colbert then interrupted, "And they usually are in the company of earth mages either as familiars or servants".

"Understood", Cherub said.

"Now, Cherub", Colbert then said, "Can you tell us what is the weapon you used earlier in the duel?"

"The weapon that I used is called a laser blade", Cherub replied, "It can be treated as a blade made from highly condensed heat that can take a solid form to slice through any matter with ease. Considering that it has no metallic blade, it is immune to wear and rust".

"Very interesting", Colbert replied, "Now, if you wouldn't mind, can you please show it to us?"

"Understood", Cherub said.

Just after its/his word, Cherub raised its/his left hand in such a way that its/his fist is facing the ceiling. Suddenly, a wrist guard-like metal attached on top of Cherub's left hand wrist materialized out of nowhere. In a few seconds, a simple yet beautiful energy bolt suddenly gushed out of the metal wrist with the runes on its/his left hand suddenly glowing.

"Amazing", Colbert said, "I haven't seen any blades like this before".

"Can I get a closer look at it", Colbert asked.

"Negative, getting close to the blade will result in damage because of my blade's bio-shock feature", Cherub stated.

"Bio-shock feature… just what is it?", Colbert asked with a curious yet interested look on his face.

"It is a special property of my blades that allows it to deal damage to anything near it within a certain distance even though those things never make physical contact with the blade", Cherub explained, "Considering this, I could actually damage my enemies even though my blade didn't reached them as long as I land my blade next to them. I could also unleash waves of energy from my blades for a short-distance ranged attack with a damage rating equal to the blade making a direct hit if needed".

"Now that makes me even more interested in those blades", Colbert said, 'It is such a fine work of art despite its sole purpose of killing".

"Now, can I ask a question?", Cherub asked.

Osmond nodded implying that it/he can.

"What is magic?", Cherub asked, "Is it just the ability to make something appear out of nowhere?"

"Actually", Colbert answered, "Magic is divided into 5 elements which are fire, water, earth, wind, and the lost element void. A mage's magical prowess is measured by how many elements he or she could conjure as dot, line, triangle, and square. Dot is the weakest but most common category to which many mages belong while square is the strongest that comprise mages who have mastered their magic".

"Since there are five elements, shouldn't there be a pentagon for being able to conjure the five elements together?", Cherub asked.

"To be honest, the element void is lost which made pentagon mages non-existent", Colbert said, "Furthermore, it was lost thousands of years ago so there is no data about it other than historical accounts of founder Brimir who is the only void mage in existence. In the event of a mage showing the power of void appear, the church will take action immediately".

Regarding about the "church", Cherub inquired about it.

"What is the church?", Cherub asked.

"It is a clerical institution that is established in the kingdoms whose royal houses are said to have descended from founder Brimir himself which are the kingdoms of Tristain, Gallia, and Albion. The kingdom of Romalia acts as the capital of the Church which is headed by the Pope", Colbert replied.

"Understood", Cherub said who then moved to his final question.

"What is the meaning of the runes etched on my left hand?", Cherub asked.

Osmond sighed for a moment before proceeding to answer Cherub's question.

"Ms. Vallierie, can you go out for a moment?", Osmond said.

Louise, for her part, was completely out of words and lost in thought. Her familiar is not an ordinary golem considering its ability to think and answer questions logically as she watched it ask questions that a golem won't do normally. It might be even smarter than her. As she is lost in thought, Osmond's words to stay outside for a while made her snap back to reality.

"Y-Yes", Louise said as she went out of the office.

As soon as Louise went outside, Cherub deactivated its/his laser blade on its/his left arm and the runes stopped glowing the moment its/his laser blade de-materialized.

"Colbert, since you investigated about it, kindly tell Ms. Vallierie's familiar about your findings.

Cherub then looked at Colbert who then started talking.

"The runes on your left hand are the same as Gandalfr, the left hand of God", Colbert said, "Those runes are very powerful because they grant the user mastery of any weapon they grab".

"Understood", Cherub replied, "But does that include wands and ceremonial weapons?"

"No", Colbert replied, "the founder Brimir summoned Gandalfr for the sole purpose of protecting him as he cast spells which are too long but very powerful. He is extremely vulnerable while casting spells and this is where Gandalfr proves its worth as a warrior protecting the founder. Considering its role, the Gandalfr is a master of weapons. The Gandalfr is considered as something connected to the void since founder Brimir himself is a void mage"

"Understood", Cherub said, "So does that mean that master Louise is a void mage?"

"Actually, that is yet to be confirmed", Osmond said, "And if it is, things might become tight so I'm advising you to keep this entire matter secret to Ms. Vallierie and everyone else for the time being. She'll be in some tight spot if she or anybody learned this",

"As long as it will ensure the welfare of master Louise, I am prepared to cooperate", Cherub said.

"Now you are dismissed", Osmond said, "If you want to ask something, you are free to visit here".

"Understood", Cherub said before turning around and opening the door to get out of the office.

As soon as Cherub is already out and its/his footsteps can no longer be heard, Osmond and Colbert have a talk.

"Headmaster", Colbert said, "This is a great discovery of the time, a Gandalfr in the modern world!"

"Hmm… I wonder where this will take us", Osmond replied.

"I think we should report this to the palace", Colbert replied.

"No", Osmond said with a declining tone.

"Why not?", Colbert asked puzzled why they won't.

"Just think about those fools in the palace", Osmond replied, "If we were to hand over the Gandalfr and its master to them, Ms. Vallierie's familiar will be just turned into a weapon of war as they will have much time in their hands to declare war here and there with that kind of power. And Colbert, you just saw what did it do to that Gramont boy's bronze valkyries with its own weapons don't you? The consequences will be a nightmare if Cherub is to charge in on the battlefield. I'm having doubts if Ms. Vallierie's familiar really is a golem".

Colbert shivered when Osmond talked about that. The headmaster is right, if they were to hand over such a dangerous weapon to the palace, things might become really messy.

"Furthermore, the duke Vallierie won't be pleased to hear her youngest daughter sent in on the frontlines of the battlefield given his anti-war stand", Osmond added, "And I'm afraid we might lose a large chunk of financial donations if we screw up here. After all, the Vallierie family is one of the top richest noble families in Tristain".

"I understand sir", Colbert replied.

"I'll be taking care of this matter personally", Osmond said.

"By the way Colbert", Osmond asked, "Did you performed detect magic on Ms. Vallierie's familiar?"

"About that sir", Colbert answered, "I did performed it but the results are extremely weird".

"What do you mean?", Osmond asked.

"I've casted the spell several times over when I met Cherub earlier before the duel took place unexpectedly but I can't detect any sort of power within. I can't say it normal either because there should be at least some presence even for golems but the spell doesn't return anything as if I'm just casting it on nothing".

"Hmm… Ms. Vallierie's familiar is a very mysterious golem", Osmond said, "I wonder what sort of tricks it will pull off in the future".

Outside the Headmaster's office, Louise is at the door waiting for Cherub to come out.

After a few moments, Cherub finally exited the Headmaster's room and Louise immediately talked to it/him.

"What did you guys in there talked about?", Louise asked.

"Just about the runes on my left hand", Cherub replied.

"Ah… I see", Louise said, "now follow me".

Cherub immediately complied as it/he followed Louise on a corridor that eventually led to her dorm room.

As they are walking throughout the corridor, several whisperings can be heard.

"Hey, it's Louise the Zero", a female student whispered.

"Whoa! Who's that handsome looking guy with her?", her female friend said.

"He looks handsome…", another female student from a distance whispered, "And those eyes… just make him more cool".

"Wa-wait a minute", another female student thought to herself, "How the hell did Zero get a handsome looking guy walk with her?"

"Damn it! He looks a hundred times better than that playboy Guiche", another female student grumbled about it, "Why do he have to fall for Zero?"

"Dear Founder, just why did you forsake us?", a female student said to herself as she watch Louise and Cherub turn around the corner. But just before the two could turn, Louise suddenly turned around facing the female students.

"If you people have something to say, spit it out in front of me!", Louise said in a slightly pissed tone.

Seeing the female students still silent, Louise turned to Cherub and ordered it/him to continue walking with her to her dorm room.

"Cherub, let's go", Louise ordered.

"Understood", Cherub said in a robotic tone.

Upon hearing the same robotic tone from the young man that they first heard from the dangerous golem that almost killed Guiche moments ago, they burst in complete shock.

"T-That voice", a female student said.

"Isn't that belonging to Louise's golem familiar?", another female student said.

"No way…", a third female student said, "Did I just fall for a war golem?"

"_EEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"_

A complete and synchronized expression of surprise suddenly filled the whole corridor as everyone realized that the guy accompanying the so-called Zero is actually her dangerous familiar. It was heard the moment Louise and Cherub are finally out of the corridor and have moved on to the next one.

A few moments later… when everyone finally digested the newly acquired information, the reaction was…

KKKKKKYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAA"

Some of the girls screamed with their faces blushing red and some had to rest on the walls as their knees appears to have been refusing their bodies' order to keep standing up due to their unexplained joy of seeing such a handsome young man.

"Master, why are the humans back there screaming?", Cherub asked.

'I-Ignore them", Louise said although she's also blushing like the other girls.

After some minutes, Louise and Cherub eventually made it to Louise's room.

However, Kirche and Tabitha are already waiting there. Kirche's flame lizard familiar is also there as well.

"Hi, Louise", Kirche said to Louise as she see the latter coming closer to the door.

"Oh, who's this handsome guy with you?", she asked Louise upon turning her attention to Cherub.

"This is my familiar", Louise said although she can't look straight at Kirche as she said, "Got any problem?"

"Wow, is that really you Cherub?", Kirche asked further.

"Correct, I am Cherub", Cherub said with its/his robotic tone still recognizable.

Tabitha maintained a steady look at Cherub while her friend is busy "distracting" it/him. Unfortunately, Cherub found it out eventually.

"Again, what is your reason for your eyesight aimed at me?", Cherub asked Tabitha who was shocked again.

Tabitha just looked away and hid her face behind her book the moment she was found out.

"Hey Louise, don't just have your familiar for yourself", Kirche said as Louise opened the door of her room.

"What do you mean?", Louise asked with a red face.

"Well…", Kirche replied, " I'm thinking that you might get interested in your own familiar considering how he looks and attempt to do 'this' and 'that' on top of the bed at night".

"What!?", Louise yelled in complete embarrassment, "There's no way I'm going to do something like that Zerbst!".

"But it's fun and it's worth it", Kirche said.

"Cherub, do something will you!", Louise asked.

"The two humans and the reptile-based creature in front of us do not show any sign of hostility. Therefore, I cannot attack them. We are in a civilian area as well", Cherub replied.

"Hoo, you're too disciplined and intelligent for a familiar", Kirche said, "Why not tell us something about you?"

Cherub turned to look at Louise. Louise, for her part, knew what it is.

"F-Fine", Louise said.

Inside Louise's room, Louise, Cherub, Tabitha, Kirche, and even Flame, Kirche's familiar, are inside ready to learn about who… or what Cherub really is.

_-Chapter 5 End-_


	6. Chapter 6: Identity Confirmed

**Author's Notes: I finally finished Chapter 6 of Sentient Familiar of Zero. It took me a week just to finish this chapter and I think I would need another week to finish the next chapter. Okay, this chapter is more of an information chapter about Cherub. Anyways, enjoy reading Chapter 6! Please R&R so I could make improvements as the story progresses. Same for my other story by the way.**

**Oh yeah, Chapter 19 of TWGOK: Beyond God's Mask is about 35% complete by now in my perception. I think I would be able to upload it in a day or two. Either way, stay tuned on both of the stories I am working on, they will get updated once every week and you guys can count on it.**

* * *

**==========Chapter 6: Identity Confirmed==========**

A few minutes ago…

Ms. Longueville is secretly looking at Louise and Cherub as they went away from the headmaster's office. However, it seems that Ms. Longueville is much more focused on Cherub.

"That golem is too powerful", Ms. Longueville murmured, "Just who created it and how?"

"I better investigate about that golem to look for strengths and weaknesses that I can use when things get critical", Ms. Longueville added as she went away quietly.

In Louise's room, everybody is gathered as Cherub is about to reveal who or more proper to say, what, it/he is.

"Alright, Cherub", Louise said, "Spit it out. Your capabilities are far greater than a golem so what are you really?"

"I am an Armored Core and you can call it AC for a short term", Cherub stated, "But to be more exact, I am a Controller Agent".

"A-Armored Core?", Louise said with a confused look on her face.

"Is that a new type of a golem?", Kirche inquired.

"Strictly speaking, it is negative", Cherub replied.

"We are mechanical constructs built to serve the Controller which is why I am called a Controller Agent", Cherub added.

"Controller, what kind of mage is he?", Louise asked.

"No, he is not a human but rather a machine like me although far advanced than me", Cherub added, "and the Controller is the one who built me and my brethren."

"When you mean brethren, there are more of you out there?", Louise asked.

"Correct, the Controller built us to enforce his authority to everyone within his area of command. You can call me and my brethren his elite cadre of knights if you use your society's social hierarchy as a measurement of importance that he tasks to carry out high risk and important missions", Cherub replied.

"Wow, so you're some sort of a noble in your world Cherub", Kirche said.

"Negative, according to my databanks, the nobility in the world I originally belong to were defeated in revolutions by the common people who declared their countries liberated from the oppressive grasp of their autocratic rulers", Cherub replied.

"WHAT!", Louise exclaimed.

"Is something the matter, master?", Cherub asked.

"About the nobles in your world, what happened to them?", Louise asked although she seems to be in disbelief especially at the part where Cherub said that the nobility was defeated and overthrown by the commoner people. This is against what the church taught her which is mages, or nobles to be exact, are superior over the commoners no matter what and they will always win.

"When they were successfully overthrown by the commoner people", Cherub replied, "The defeated nobles were charged with treason, crimes against humanity, and abuse of power by the revolutionary government. They were sentenced to death and declared as enemies of humanity. Furthermore, they are considered to be a thing of the past and they are no longer needed in the New World Order."

Louise found this completely outrageous. Nobles being declared as criminals? This is unacceptable. She would have exploded in anger if she didn't want to know more about her familiar and what it/he is really. But the last part made her curious, especially at the so called "New World Order".

"Cherub, what is this New World Order?", Louise inquired.

For Louise, this is perhaps something that she wouldn't want to hear considering that she is a royalist… and therefore, an imperialist. At the same time, this is a big bomb drop from Cherub.

"It is the period of human history in my world where the common people were ruled by their own brethren with no interference from nobles. The selection of leaders in my world was based on the capacity to lead rather than birthright and the concept of equality before the law is recognized as well. The rights of the people are also recognized and respected by the democratic governments that sprouted from the ashes of the kingdoms that were annexed in the so-called Wars of National Liberation".

"What! Are you saying that commoners can rule?!", Louise raised her voice in anger, "How is that possible?!"

"Master, the way of life in this New World Order can be considered more humane than under the Monarchial rule", Cherub stated, "As people can move freely without somebody killing them and the culprit cannot just get away with their crimes which seems to be the case in your world. My hypothesis is that nobles in your society can do as much as they want to commoners and they could just get away from their crimes without a punishment based from the care-free noble I fought earlier, is that right master?", Cherub stated.

Louise was unable to answer to Cherub's question. It/he was right. The nobles in her world are a bunch of corrupt and abusive fools that lord over the commoners and she can't deny it. In fact, she knows full well that her family, the Valliere family, might have done such acts which she doesn't know and this has been the case of all noble families.

Suddenly, Cherub started to talk again.

"I am not opposing you master but I am just saying what is inside my databanks", Cherub said.

"To answer the question if commoners can rule, the commoners made great progress in all fields of society like health, agriculture, politics, literature and many more when they freed themselves from the clutches of their so-called oppressive kings", Cherub stated, "And the Church was also curtailed because of their alleged collaboration with the overthrown nobles during the period of the Old World. They were also seen as traitors because of this but the religious devotion of the commoner people especially some of the revolutionary leaders spared them from the same unfortunate fate", Cherub stated.

Louise was completely speechless after Cherub was done talking. While it is completely absurd, she knew for a fact that just looking at Cherub means that what it/he said is real and it/he doesn't seem to be the one lying.

"Okay, enough with this nonsense", Louise said, "What are Armored Cores?"

"Armored Cores are machines of war built by what can you call plebeians or more right to say commoners", Cherub stated, "And this seems to prove that commoners are not that inferior."

"C-Commoners again?!", Louise snapped at the thought that such powerful weapons were built by commoners which she deems as inferior.

"Correct, Master", Cherub said, "And Armored Cores are piloted by humans who commandeer these machines of war into battle".

"Wait… You mean Armored Cores can be controlled by a human?", Louise asked.

"Correct", Cherub said.

"If that's true…", Louise said as she thought to her mind, "then Cherub get out of your Armored Core now!"

"Unfortunately, master, I don't have one as the Controller is the one who created me and he designed me to operate without a human pilot", Cherub said.

As Cherub said it, it/he immediately realized that he hasn't introduced who it/he really is.

"My apologies master, it seems that I haven't introduced my true nature properly", Cherub said.

"I am a Controller Agent", Cherub continued, "And as such, I can function even without a human pilot inside. By default, Controller Agents are superior over standard Armored Cores in terms of performance. Furthermore, because I don't have any pilot inside, I can do actions with complete precision and accuracy where a human will likely do an error. I do not know emotions and remorse for actions that what you humans may call as sickening like killing. We carry out our orders without hesitation and whatever they may be. That is all that matters."

The last part got Louise. She learned that her familiar would not hesitate to kill anybody when ordered. If she hadn't stopped it/him in the duel earlier, it/he might have killed Guiche already.

Summoning up her courage, Louise asked Cherub.

"Cherub", Louise said, "If I hadn't given you the order to not kill Guiche, will you kill him?"

Kirche and Tabitha cast their stare at Cherub, knowing what it/he is going to reply.

"As duels are fights between two combatants in a combat area", Cherub replied, "Killing him would be the option to claim victory, is that right master?"

The moment Louise heard it, she just gasped in shock. If she just stood by earlier, she might have been labeled a murderer because of what her familiar did. But her familiar is also right as well. Duels are fights where the victor can kill his opponent in an honorable fashion.

Kirche found it appalling at best. She was disturbed but, at the same time, interested in Cherub. It/he isn't a normal one… and its/his mysterious characteristics add to her curiosity piling up.

Tabitha, on the other hand, just found it normal considering what she had gone through when she was within reach of her uncle. However, she felt a strange feeling in Louise's familiar which she can't explain. It isn't fear; it was a feeling of emptiness. Is it as if she was just staring at nothing.

Tabitha then used the opportunity to ask Cherub a question regarding Armored Cores.

"Cherub", Tabitha said, "Is it possible for any nation in Halkeginia to produce these weapons called Armored Cores?"

Cherub paused for a moment and replied.

"If the technological expertise of your people is to be considered along with the primitive level of technology currently here right now, building Armored Cores is impossible at best", Cherub said, "Furthermore, you do not even have the necessary alloys to craft Armored Core parts if the inferiority of the metal construct I fought earlier is to be considered".

Louise twitched when Cherub said the word "primitive" regarding her world. How dare does her familiar say that?

"What sort of metal are you made of?", Tabitha asked.

"Unfortunately, I do not know", Cherub stated.

"Why is that?", Louise asked.

"The Controller is someone that likes to keep secrets for his assets' lethality to remain sharp at all costs. The fact that the nature of my armor is not included in my databanks is a countermeasure in a likely event that I be captured by the enemy forces", Cherub said.

Either way, she found it best not to talk about Cherub's world because it might lead him to saying things that commoners are superior over nobles again. Instead, she asked on what it/he can do.

"Now, Cherub, can you tell us what are the things you are carrying when I summoned you?", Louise asked.

"Those are my weapons, master", Cherub replied.

"EEEEHHHHH?!", Louise and Kirche explained.

Tabitha's glance was now set at Cherub not caring if it/he will criticize her for it.

"Now that explains why you look like a knight back then", Kirche said, "Can you tell us what those weapons are?"

"Understood", Cherub said.

"The large-musket looking gun that you saw on my right hand when you summoned me was a Laser Rifle", Cherub said.

"L-laser rifle?", Louise said in a quite confused tone.

"Correct", Cherub stated, "It works on the same principles as your guns called muskets. What differentiates it from your muskets is that it's range is very long that it is possible for me to hit far away targets and those beyond BVR, it also doesn't need to reload every time it fires and each shot could be fired one after another without losing aim at the target. The bullet fired from my laser rifle travels at a straight line and anything hit by it will be eviscerated beyond recognition and recovery. Upon hitting any solid object upon impact, the bullet will explode severely damaging anything within the blast radius".

"BVR? What is it?", Louise asked.

"It stands for Beyond Visual Range", Cherub answered, "And in combat, refers to the ability to hit or destroy enemy targets without the need to get close or reveal your position to the enemy in doing so".

If Louise, and everybody else inside, were to believe what Cherub just said, it appears that Louise's familiar is obviously a machine of war with a weapon surpassing those built by anyone in Halkeginia.

"What about the shield-looking block of metal on your left-hand then?", Kirche asked.

"That is an Energy Shield", Cherub stated, "It is a defensive weapon geared towards absorbing enemy attacks as I advance to deal the killing blow on the enemy. Anything behind it is guaranteed safe. Furthermore, it could be thrown like a boomerang where it will then seek targets. The energy shield will deploy shards of energy around it as it spin which rips any target to shreds the moment they make contact with it.

"Wow", Kirche exclaimed, "I've never heard of a shield that can be also thrown as a weapon and return back to its user once its target is dead."

"What about the things behind your back that looks like wings?", Louise asked.

"Those are my Back Boosters", Cherub replied, "And it gives me various abilities like increased movement speed which is very useful in closing the distance with the enemy to deliver a killing slash and even flight where I could ascend to altitudes of more than 500 miles above ground. My back boosters can be also calibrated for space flight".

"What is miles?", Louise asked with a confused look on her face.

"It is a unit of measurement designed to deal with extremely large distances. To give you an idea of one mile, just think of the distance from this entire building to the nearest town assuming it is straight and with no uphill roads on the way. Now, to get an idea of how high 500 miles is, just take the distance I said ealier, point it upwards and stack over five hundred of it below the other. There it is", Cherub explained.

Louise's imagination then swirled to picture the image of Cherub's explanation. It was completely incomprehensible; the height involved is far higher than what a dragon can fly at. Even a dragon or manticore can't pull it off. And wait, Cherub said "more than" meaning Cherub can fly higher than 500 miles and this left her completely speechless.

"You said about space flight, what is it?", Tabitha asked.

"It refers to flying in the confines of space where there is no gravity which makes normal movements like walking and running useless", Cherub answered, "And one will just randomly float in space except those that are fitted with equipment needed for space flight. Your magic will be useless in this situation as there are no soil, water, fire and wind in space."

Tabitha went silent after this; she learned that there are things which magic can't do.

"Master, aside from the weapons that you saw with me earlier, I have more weapons that are currently not deployed", Cherub stated.

"What?", Louise said surprised.

"Correct, I am going to give details to what they are", Cherub replied.

"First is the Energy Machine Gun", Cherub explained, "This weapon has the capacity to fire energy rounds in quick succession. This weapon is extremely useful in attacking large numbers of enemies because of its rapid fire capability."

Everyone just stared at Cherub at it/he explained its/his weapons. As it/he went further, the three girls start to shows signs of disbelief as the weapons it/he says are completely unbelievable in their minds.

"Second is the Energy Chain Gun", Cherub explained, "Like the Energy Machine Gun, it is capable of firing in quick succession although not as fast as the Energy Machine Gun but the damage is higher. Consequently, it is better suited to taking down targets with some degree of protection and is much accurate than the Energy Machine Gun. This weapon always materializes on my back."

"Third is the Laser Cannon, you can treat it as a larger Laser Rifle with more power, accuracy, and range. As such, it is well suited to taking down armored targets. Like the Energy Chain Gun, this weapon materializes on my back", Cherub explained.

"Fourth is the Linear Cannon, this is much powerful than the Laser Cannon in terms of power, accuracy, and range. Compared to the Laser Cannon, this weapon is capable of completely destroying any target it hits. This weapon also materializes on my back", Cherub added.

"Cherub", Louise interfered in Cherub's explanation, "What happens if a human is to be hit by any of these weapons?"

"Master, a human your size will be completely vaporized if he or she gets hit with either the Laser Rifle or the Energy Machine Gun. The Energy Chain Gun will also deal the same effect although the ground where the human target used to be standing at will be filled with holes. The three back-mounted weapons I just mentioned will also vaporize the human target although they would also leave a large crater upon impact. The Laser Blades I used earlier can fry a human or turn them to ashes at the moment they make contact with the human's flesh and not to mention it could already do damage provided they are close enough to the blade."

Louise paled at that fact. Just thinking about it makes her shudder.

"Also, I have a weapon called the Orbit Cannon", Cherub stated, "This particular weapon will actively seek targets the moment I deployed them in a certain distance around me. This weapon is very useful in keeping the enemy off balance or maintaining pressure on the enemy. It also acts as a good scout if the need arises."

'"Is that even possible?", Louise inquired with a skeptical look.

"Correct, the Orbit Cannon works in three possible set-ups. One is that it will chase targets that have a hostile heat signature, two is that it will fire at anything perceived as hostile even without any hostile heat signature which is the case in the event of enemy reinforcements suddenly appearing, and three is through manually controlling these orbits."

"I see…", Louise said.

"Lastly", Cherub said, "There are the Energy Floating Mines. You can treat them as bombs that float randomly but chase their targets once said targets enter a certain distance from them. The only thing that could make them stop is either they get destroyed in destroying their target, the target gets destroyed before the mine could make contact with it, or if the target manages to outrun the mine."

"What? Bombs that could chase targets?", Kirche asked.

"Correct, the Controller built these weapons both as a deterrent and trap against enemy forces. Hundreds or even thousands of these mines are placed adjacent to each other within a choke point so that the enemy will receive heavy losses if they decided to cross an off-limit area", Cherub answered.

"Before I forget", Cherub said, "The things you saw on my shoulder are known as stealth extension parts, this piece of equipment grants me various advantages while activated. One of those allows me to disappear from view which is what you can call invisibility."

"Are you serious Cherub?!", Louise asked in a surprised tone.

"Yes, it allows me to turn invisible and it works in the same principle as the way I am able to turn into my human form although different systems hold each of these functions", Cherub answered.

Upon noticing that, Kirche asked Cherub on how was it/he able to turn into its/his human form.

"Hey darling, how are you able to turn into a human from being extremely large earlier?", Kirche asked.

"To clarify it, I am not human", Cherub stated, "But rather, I just altered the particle composition of the metal parts that compose me into a compact one that makes me look human. After that, I alter the color of what you can call my skin in a bit by bit manner until every single part of me now looks human."

"Huh?", Kirche exclaimed in confusion.

"But to demonstrate it", Cherub said, "Master can I use the small table over there?"

Cherub pointed at the table with a gray-colored vase filled with red flowers on top of it beside Louise's bed and Louise immediately agreed.

"Okay", Louise said, "But don't wreck it, it is made of the finest dark wood in Tristain".

"Wood", Cherub said, "Master, once I altered it, I would no longer be able to revert it back to its real form as the Phase Matter Alternator System can only deal with metals although organic matter can also be altered but the drawback is that they cannot be altered into another organic matter again or their original composition."

Louise and the others weren't able to comprehend what Cherub said but just let it/him do its/his little demonstration. Either way, they also want to know what sort of trick it/he will pull off.

After obtaining its/his master's permission, Cherub immediately pointed its/his hand in a stretched position at the small table. However, something went wrong although it isn't that serious…

Louise, Kirche and Tabitha stared as the event transpired.

Slowly, the flowers and the vase on top of the table suddenly glow which then burst in white light.

When the light subsided, the vase of flowers and the flowers inside of it looked different than before.

"I missed", Cherub stated.

Louise went closer to the vase and was shocked when she realized what happened to it.

The flowers are still red but… upon closer inspection reveals that they are now finely life-like crafted ruby gems and the stems are made of solid emerald. The vase… well it is still gray in color but closer inspection reveals that it is now made of silver.

Wait… How did this happen?

"Answer me, Cherub, how are you able to do this?", Louise asked, "Is this some kind of magic?"

"As I said before, I could alter the matter composition of an object at will and the human skin I am currently using is actually made of a very advanced metal capable of expanding and shrinking which could also be modified to suite the properties of a real human skin and it is also the same as the one my true form is made of", Cherub replied, "But please do mind that the farther I am to the target, the longer it will take to fully convert an object's particle composition into another."

"However, it seems I missed my target", Cherub said.

After a few moments, Cherub realized why it/he missed its/his target.

"My apologies master", Cherub said, "It seems that I haven't deactivated my Pin-Point combat mode after the duel concluded."

"Huh?", Louise asked.

Suddenly, Cherub's blood red eyes are replaced with beautiful yellow-colored eyes that glow like gold.

"Darling, your eyes…", Kirche said.

"The color of my eyes indicate if my combat mode is engaged", Cherub explained, "If my eyes are red as blood, it means that I am currently focused in combat and other less important matters in combat like communication will be given little priority. Should my eyes be yellow gold, it means that I am in normal mode."

"Oh…", Kirche exclaimed.

"I have one more thing to ask", Louise said.

"You could have easily dispatched Guiche ealier and you said that his valkyries are inferior, why did you said that?", Louise asked.

"Based on my databanks, the enemies that I faced in my world are much stronger than him", Cherub stated, "If your people fight wars using spears, swords, bows, and magic, the wars fought in the world I belong are fought using guns capable of firing simultaneously, bombs that could eviscerate large tracts of land, missiles that could leave millions of human deaths with each direct shot and many more."

Cherub continued to tell more about how wars were fought in its/his world. As it/he talk, he could see Louise and Kirche getting nervous with each word it/he says. Tabitha completely set her book aside and listened more attentively to it/him.

Noticing that Louise and Kirche are in disbelief, Cherub showed some proof.

"It seems that master and the others doesn't seem to believe me", Cherub stated, "So I am going to show an evidence."

"Huh?", Louise exclaimed as she snapped out.

Her mind displayed a world engulfed in flames and death with screams of the dying can be heard. At one point, the devil's laugh could be heard echoing in her brain as screams and continuous gunfire filled her consciousness.

Suddenly, a screen suspended in mid-air materialized and showed some gruesome scenes.

"W-Wha-What is that?!", Louise asked in a panicked tone upon seeing the holographic screen.

"This is a holographic screen", Cherub answered, "And…"

"Master, this is an example of how wars are fought in my world", Cherub said

Louise paled at the series of carnage that she saw: a group of soldiers were running only to get hit by a cannon shot that disintegrated them into bits, a heavily armored box with a stick on it which Cherub confirmed to be a tank run over a group of unlucky soldiers and crushed them outright and proceeded to fire its cannon at a building that caused an explosion and reduced it to a pile of dirt, and large winged metal creatures which Cherub stated as fighter jets circled each other all the while firing their large automatic-firing guns that eventually destroyed the opposing jets. However, the last part made her grow numb in fear: a large pointed stick object emitting flame from its tail is seen descending at what seems to be an enormous city, perhaps larger than Tristain, and when it hit the ground… the city… was… gone in a giant explosion. Only a large crater was left where the city stood.

"W-Wha-What is that thing?!", Louise said in an almost hysterical tone.

"The large object that you saw crash into the city is called a nuclear Intercontinental Ballistic Missile", Cherub answered.

"How did it do such a thing? Is that void magic?", Louise asked.

"That weapon is armed with a nuclear payload which you can treat like an extremely dangerous poison where skin contact to even less than a single drop is more than enough to kill a human", Cherub said.

"And…", Cherub continued.

"And what?", Kirche asked.

"The weapon that you just saw decimated a city is not actually magic", Cherub said, "And quite ironically, this weapon is also made by people whom you call as commoners."

"EEEHHHHH?!", Kirche said with disbelief, "Are you sure you aren't lying, darling?"

Tabitha didn't let Cherub answer it as she asked a question suddenly.

"If Tristain is to be hit by these weapons, what are the chances of survival?", Tabitha asked.

"Based on my calculations", Cherub replied, "The chances of anyone in this country surviving in the event of an ICBM strike is zero percent."

Everyone got a nervous look on their faces. While they think that such weapons were absurd, considering the low level of technology they have, the fact that the one who talked about this is somebody who doesn't lie nor have any sense of humor is enough for them to believe that this is real. Not to mention that it/he possess weapons and other possessions that not even the most powerful mages could craft into reality.

"Master, I forgot to tell you that Armored Cores are divided based on two classifications: Weight and Configuration", Cherub said.

"What do you mean?", Louise asked.

The holographic screen suddenly changed from gruesome battlefield scenes to what appears to be a factory of some sort with several thin humanoid golems standing on a rail.

"Master, the Armored Cores you currently see are known as the Lightweight ACs", Cherub stated.

"They look skinny, what's the deal with them?", Kirche asked.

"Lightweight ACs are very fast and agile that it allows them to outrun virtually anything. However, their biggest drawback is that they have less armor and stability making them easy to destroy when caught in melee combat", Cherub explained.

"Oh…", Kirche exclaimed.

The holographic screen then switched the scene to several armored cores that look roughly the same as Cherub's real form.

"Darling, those Armored Cores look like you", Kirche said.

"Those ACs are known as the Middleweight ACs", Cherub explained, "Their biggest advantage is their balance in speed and their ability to bring in lots of attack power to bear while being on the move. I fall in this category. However, because I am made by the Controller, I am exempt to the restrictions that Middleweight ACs possess like weight load and movement speed."

Suddenly, the holographic screen showed a line of Middleweight ACs that look like Cherub.

"Cherub, those Armored Cores look like you", Louise said.

"Correct, those Middleweight ACs are also Controller Agents", Cherub said, "You can easily tell apart a Controller Agent to an Armored Core by simply looking at the emblem etched on my left shoulder. If an AC has the same emblem as mine, it simply means that the AC is a Controller Agent.

"The third type of AC under the weight classification is the Heavyweight ACs", Cherub explained as the holographic screen showed a line of ACs larger than the first two, "These ACs have a high degree of defense and could carry the highest powered weapons available due to their enormous weight load. Unfortunately, these ACs are slow and cumbersome. Along with their larger size than the first two types, they are easier to hit."

"What about the second classification?", Tabitha interrupted.

The holographic screen showed five different ACs. Each AC shows a different lower torso.

"Those ACs have different lower body parts", Louise said.

"The second classification is about the type of legs than an AC has. Different leg parts render different advantages and disadvantages", Cherub stated.

"Master the AC on the leftmost part of the screen is called the Biped AC", Cherub added, "This leg configuration is considered an all-around as it doesn't have any obvious strength and weaknesses. The exception is that it needs to kneel to fire cannon-based weapons except if they are Controller Agents like me."

"The AC on the second to the left is called the Reverse Joint AC", Cherub said as it/he refer to the AC with the Reverse Joint leg part, "ACs with this leg part allows them to jump higher in the air and gives greater flight time than other leg parts because it is lighter compared to the Biped leg parts. Like the Biped AC, it cannot fire any cannon-based weapon unless the same reason stated earlier is present."

Cherub then pointed on the AC on the middle of the holographic screen.

"This AC is known as the Quadruped AC", Cherub explained, "Its primary advantage is that it gives the AC an advantage when moving on the ground considering it can move at high speed and deploy cannon-type weapons while on the move. Master, please do note that Biped AC must kneel first in order to use the same weapons which leaves them very vulnerable while doing so. However, its biggest drawback is that it isn't well suited in flying because quadruped leg parts consume too much energy. Furthermore, it can only deploy cannons while it is touching the ground unless it is a Controller Agent."

Cherub moved on to the fourth type located second to the right.

"This AC is known as the Floater AC, this particular AC has the capacity to hover indefinitely without much energy loss. Its biggest advantage is that it allows the AC to move at the same speed despite sudden changes in altitude since it doesn't need to touch the ground. It also grants the AC higher than average speed. However, it has many drawbacks. For one, it has low defense. And second, it will need to touch the ground just to fire any cannon-based weapon it has except if it is a Controller Agent."

"And the last type is known as the Tank ACs, these ACs boast high defense and weapons load out as well as the capacity to fire cannons both in the ground and in the air. However, their biggest drawback is that they are too slow both in moving and turning that it is possible for lightweight ACs to hit them without getting shot at", Cherub said, "And that is all", Cherub said as it/he pointed at the AC on the rightmost corner of the screen.

"Too complicated and diverse", Tabitha commented.

"Darling, I don't know that your kind can assume lots of different shapes", Kirche said.

Louise is unable to speak because of the information that Cherub relayed to her in just one go. In her summarized thoughts, however, she sees her familiar as something that it too diverse and seems to be a puzzle.

"Armored Cores are designed to adapt to various combat scenarios and, as such, we come in different shapes and sizes that makes us fit for our intended tasks.", Cherub replied.

"Humans, I think it is time for you to return to your own rooms", Cherub said, "It is already night time."

The holographic screen then disappeared from view.

"Wha-?", Kirche said, "I never realized time went too fast!"

"Anyways, we'll just continue talking tomorrow if we have time", Kirche said as she and Tabitha went out of the room.

As soon as Kirche and Tabitha are guaranteed to be completely away, Louise asked Cherub.

"Cherub, are all the information you just told us really true?", Louise asked.

"According to my databanks, yes", Cherub replied.

"By the way, what is with this 'databanks' thing?", Louise asked.

"To be exact, my databanks are equivalent to a human's brain, master", Cherub answered.

"Oh, I see…", Louise said.

"I'll be sleeping now", Louise said, "Do you sleep by the way Cherub?"

"Negative", Cherub replied, "We Controller Agents have no need to sleep as we are not organic beings."

"I see", Louise said.

"Master, can I go out for now so I can make a full map of the Academy?", Cherub asked.

Louise, seeing that there's nothing to order Cherub for now, just let it/him do what it/he wants for now.

"Yes, but don't do anything like what you did to Guiche earlier", Louise replied.

"And keep yourself in that form unless I told you. You're much easier to command when you're in that form than in your original one. And also…", Louise said, "Gah! Forget it."

"Understood", Cherub said, "I'll be leaving now."

"Come back here at dawn to wake me up", Louise said as she sees Cherub reach towards the door.

"Understood", Cherub said as it/he went out of the room.

_-CHAPTER 6 END-_

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**PS: I suck at measuring very large distances so correct me if I'm wrong at the miles part.**


	7. Chapter 7: Starry Night

**Author's Notes: Sorry guys if this chapter went too long to be added. My troll mom keeps messing up with my internet connection so I'm literally f*cked up here. This setup will continue until I managed to get my own internet connection and probably my own laptop since I suspect she might confiscate my current one if my instincts are right. In the meantime, I just have to stick with this. Don't worry; this story will be updated every now and then. Anyways, Chapter 7 is up. Enjoy reading!**

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**==========Chapter 7: Starry Night==========**

Cherub is now finally outside Louise's room. Since it is already night time and midnight to be exact, there aren't any people at the corridors. Most of them are now probably asleep so there's no reasonable human activity at the moment.

Taking advantage of this, Cherub immediately went down the stairs to reach the Academy grounds. When it/he reached the grounds, it is eerily quiet. No sign of anyone on sight or anything suspicious.

To play safe, it/he then turned on its/his radar to see if there's anyone within its/his immediate vicinity. From its/his radar, a heat signature is detected at its/his 5 o'clock and it's just stationary. No sign of any movement is coming at the heat signature at the moment. However, the heat signature registers that it is Siesta.

Considering that saving Siesta from Guiche is the reason of the duel earlier, Cherub decided to see if Siesta is just alright.

Meanwhile…

Siesta is still at the shed, sitting on top of a sizeable pile of haystack, comprehending what she just saw from the duel earlier.

"So… grandfather is right all along", Siesta said to herself.

She then looked up at the sky to see the two moons: One is small and red while the other is large and blue.

"Ms. Siesta are you alright?", a metallic voice said from behind.

Siesta yanked up from the voice and immediately turned around to see who called out to her.

Much to her surprise, it is a young man with golden yellow eyes wearing a white shirt under a gray jacket with a matching gray pants as well as reinforced shoes. From his attire, he is definitely a commoner but he's quite handsome.

Siesta blushed when she finally digested what the young man in front of her said. He's the first guy that called her 'miss' after all. Not to mention that he's quite handsome.

"Y-Yes sir", Siesta replied.

"S-Sir, are you Cherub in any case?", Siesta answered upon realizing the young man's voice being similar to that of Cherub.

"Yes", Cherub replied.

Before Siesta can say anything, Cherub immediately sat down next to her on a hay stack. It/he calibrated his weight from his actual weight to that of an average human fit for its/his human form to prevent the hay stack from collapsing under its/his own weight.

The moment Siesta realized that Cherub is just next to her, she blushed more. For any girl, sitting next to a handsome guy in the middle of the night is quite romantic. As for Siesta, she basically got one.

"E-Eh, how can you do that?", Siesta said a bit confused and unable to look at Cherub.

"I could alter the composition of the metals that comprise me to change my size at my discretion", Cherub replied.

The way the young man spoke as well as his golden yellow eyes clearly made it on Siesta's mind that the young man is really Cherub.

"S-Sir, is that called matter alteration?", Siesta asked.

Cherub, although a machine, was quite surprised that Siesta talked about it.

"Correct, it is matter alteration that allows me to change the composition of what makes me", Cherub replied.

As soon as Cherub finished his word, it/he found it odd that Siesta could talk about such a thing considering that she's an inhabitant of this "primitive world".

Attempting to fill up this discrepancy, it/he asked Siesta about this.

"Ms. Siesta, where did you learned about this?", Cherub asked.

"Uhm… I learned it from my great-great-great-grandfather when I was still young", Siesta replied, "Personally, I didn't believed it at first but after seeing you do all of those things back there made me think that it's real all along."

"Great-great-great-grandfather", Cherub said, "Did he said something about the Great Destruction?"

Siesta paused for a moment before replying.

"Yes", Siesta replied.

"Understood. As of now, I am sure you are aware of the events pertaining to that event. Considering the circumstances, you will be assisting me when the need arises or whenever you can", Cherub said.

"Y-Yes", Siesta replied.

The moment Siesta replied, she remembered about what her grandfather said to her.

"My grandfather left behind a cache of papers and equipment before he passed away. He left it at Tarbes, my home village. Maybe they could be a bit of help", Siesta said.

Cherub thought for a moment before replying.

"Understood, however, I would not be able to see these papers and equipment for the time being", Cherub replied, "At the same time, I learned from the Academy that you will have a vacation in the near future. I assume that may be the right time."

Siesta nodded in agreement.

For the lack of a better word, Cherub "sensed" that Siesta still doesn't fully believe things that are related to it/him.

"Miss Siesta, do you like to go on a flight?", Cherub asked.

"What flight?", Siesta said confused.

"It is a term for flying", Cherub replied.

"Y-You could fly?!", Siesta said not believing Cherub.

"Yes, I am fully capable of flight", Cherub answered back.

Cherub then stood up from the hay stack and walked a good distance away from Siesta before glowing. Siesta had to block her eyes because of the intense brightness of Cherub suddenly glowing. As soon as the light subsided, Siesta saw Cherub in its/his original form with the MWG-KARASAWA/REVILE and the KES-ES/REFLECT not in its/his hands although the MWB-MX/WINGS are at its/his back.

"Ms. Siesta, please step on my palm", Cherub said.

Cherub is kneeling on one knee in the same fashion as a knight does when in the presence of a monarch and its/his right palm hand is extended to Siesta for her to step in.

Siesta hesitated for a moment before stepping on Cherub's hand. While she is skeptical and scared of what might happen, she's also curious about the information that her great-great-great-grandfather told her especially about their flying creations. Cherub probably being one of those.

As soon as Siesta is on top of its/his right palm, Cherub activated its/his boosters and back boosters causing it/him to be propelled upwards slowly.

"Wah!", Siesta screamed as she realized that Cherub is slightly ascending upwards with her at its/his palm.

After a few more moments, Cherub is already up at the air… it/he is flying.

"W-We're flying!", Siesta exclaimed.

"Correct", Cherub replied, "However, I am currently ascending slowly so as not to wake up other humans near the area. Please wait for a while until we are outside hearing range."

Siesta nodded and waited until Cherub is finally in the sufficient altitude.

The moment Cherub is within the necessary altitude, Siesta noticed that the Academy looked only as big as the size of a whole pie she serves to the students everyday from her perspective high up in the clouds.

"Buckle up for a nice flight", Cherub said to Siesta.

Cherub the boosted forward beginning the nice flight in the night sky.

The flight is as cool as the night breeze and running smooth. From Cherub, Siesta has a nice vantage point to see everything below. At one point she saw Tristania, the capital city of Tristain. The city itself is probably five or six times the size of her small home village as far as she thinks. As the flight went on, she noticed that Cherub can fly higher than any dragons and even faster than wind dragons. Cherub's flight speed and altitude can make the mentioned creatures put to shame. They are all outclassed to say the least.

"Sir Cherub, is it possible for you to fly higher?", Siesta asked.

"Yes", Cherub answered, "However, I do not have the necessary apparatus to allow you to breathe in outer space."

"Outer space?", Siesta asked, "Is that the place where there's nothing but empty space and darkness?"

"Correct", Cherub replied, "Outer space lacks oxygen which is needed by humans to live. Without it, any human will die within seconds."

"However, I can still fly up there although I would do need to recalibrate my boosters for that matter. Flight in space is a different matter", Cherub added.

"Hm… so grandfather's words are really right", Siesta said.

"I've been hearing the person who you call your grandfather, may I ask about his name?", Cherub asked.

"Uhm... my great-great-great-grandfather's name is James Takahashi", Siesta replied.

"Understood", Cherub replied, "Did he taught you anything like the language and the means of writing of his world and, probably, mine as well?"

"Yes, he did teach me something of those things. What about it?", Siesta asked.

"I just as thought that you may be helpful to me", Cherub replied.

"Oh…", Siesta exclaimed.

Suddenly, a question ran in Cherub's mind.

"Ms. Siesta, why is it that you don't use your grandfather's surname?", Cherub asked.

"What surname?", Siesta asked.

"It is the word Takahashi", Cherub replied, "Why don't you add it to your name?"

Siesta paused for a moment before she replied.

"That's because I'm not a noble", Siesta replied, "Only nobles can have an additional name."

Cherub let this information into him for a moment before saying anything.

"So that is the reason why master's and the other humans classified as 'nobles' have such long names", Cherub replied.

"Uhm… Sir Cherub, can you tell us where we are now?", Siesta asked.

"According to my sensors, we are currently within 58 minutes flight distance away from the Academy, is there any problem?", Cherub replied.

At the current situation, Cherub is flying at a high altitude over a large forest.

"I cannot ascertain our current location because of the lack of any landmarks in Tristain other than Tristania and the port city of La Rochelle. Their exact coordinates have already been confirmed", Cherub added, "However, I can still detect the exact coordinates of the Academy even from here and I already calculated a flight path that will take us there back in about an hour."

Meanwhile, back at the academy…

A hooded figure is making her way into the library at midnight. The moment she broke in, she immediately went up to the shelves which have books regarding advanced earth magic spells.

"No, not this one", the hooded figure said.

"Not this one either", the hooded figure said again as she opened up another book.

The hooded figure continued to look up on the books about earth magic but as she looked on more and more, she just end up getting frustrated all the way.

"Damn it! Why can't I find anything good about that golem?!", the hooded figure said in anger.

"Hmph, anyway I should just stick with my plan on stealing the Staff of Destruction. That's all about what I need to do", She said as she left the room.

Before the hooded figure left the room, she arranged the books that she looked at in the same order before she touched them so as not to raise suspicion that somebody went inside the library unannounced.

The hooded figure disappeared into the darkness as if she hadn't been there.

Meanwhile, at one of the rooms within the academy…

Tabitha is busy writing something in a piece of paper with a lamp serving as an illumination as she wrote in her room in the dark. It is a regulation at the Academy to put out all the lights during the night so Tabitha had to rely on lamps as she writes something at the moment.

Tabitha let out a deep sigh once she finished writing. She looked up at the sky through the window of her room and stared at the night sky.

Back at Siesta and Cherub…

"Sir Cherub, I think we should held back", Siesta said.

"Understood", Cherub replied, "Well be there in about an hour."

Cherub then turned around and boosted towards the academy at a remarkable speed although it/he is careful not to get Siesta blown off its/his palm by the sudden wind current flowing throughout its/his body. Consequently, Cherub can't use its/his Overboost ability to get back at the Academy faster as the winds that will be generated around its/his framework will be more than enough to make Siesta blown off him. This forced it/him to rely on his main boosters and the back boosters as well.

As Cherub and Siesta made their way back at the Academy, they passed over a village that is as large as Tarbes, Siesta's village.

Siesta looked a bit sad as they pass over the village

"Do you feel homesick?", Cherub asked on seeing Siesta's sad face.

"No", Siesta replied, "It's just I wonder how everyone is doing back at the village I grew up in."

"They are fine", Cherub replied.

"Huh", Siesta muttered in confusion.

"Considering that Tarbes is a rural village, there is nothing to be feared about for their safety. Their rural lives are very simple and no clear threats are present that may endanger their lives", Cherub replied.

"T-Thank you Sir Cherub", Siesta said with a faint chuckle, "For keeping me up."

"No thanks necessary, I have to wake up master once dawn settled in", Cherub replied, "That was what she ordered before I left."

With that, Cherub boosted towards the Academy as the sun rise slowly.

_-CHAPTER 7 END-_

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**PS: Okay guys, I'll probably twist some characters if the need arises. One in particular is Siesta. I might probably make her smarter than the original one making her an OOC in the long run to advance the story. Also, I might need to completely alter some canonical events if I need it. By the way, once the story gets to the point where the Dragon's Raiment should appear, I'm going to show in detail James Takahashi's identity. Also, I'm not sure about the part where Nobles have "surnames" while commoners haven't. I just noticed that nobles have a first name and a surname while commoners only have a first name so came up with this.**

**PS: Feel free to give comments on what those papers and equipment are. However, these things will be limited to arm-mounted (held in the hands) and back-mounted weapons. Shoulder extension parts and inside weaponry are also included. Oh, I might be able to include the FINGER machine gun and/or the TITAN large missile launchers if I managed to come up with a nice way of introducing them. Stay tuned on the next chapter.**


	8. Chapter 8: Low Intensity Weapon Acquired

**Author's Notes: Phew, Finally done. Heck, I was not able to write this chapter because of the repeated college paper works thrown at me and my mother, being a troll, keeps on messing up with my internet connection making it impossible for me to upload this. I was like machine gunned by papers and no food/water in two weeks straight. I've compensated the long wait with a long chapter. Anyways, this is the new chapter. Derf's going to appear here but he'll be having a twist. Please R&R so I can see if I overlooked anything. Enjoy reading Chapter 8!**

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**==========Chapter 8: Low-intensity Weapon Acquired==========**

Cherub and Siesta finally made it back to the academy without being noticed. They came back just in time the sun set in from the horizon.

"Thanks Sir Cherub", Siesta said as she hopped down from Cherub's palm to the ground. It was only a half a foot high making it safe for Siesta to jump down.

Cherub watched as Siesta hurried towards the dorms where the Academy's servants rest every night.

As soon as Siesta is completely out of its/his sight, Cherub switched to his second form, which is his human form, and started walking towards Louise's room.

At Louise's room…

Louise is still sleeping and she seems to be faintly murmuring something. It turns out that Louise has a dream but, from the looks of it, it doesn't sound good.

In Louise's dream, Louise watched as thousands of metal constructs that she now knows as Armored Cores invade Tristain. The Royal Army is giving everything it got but to no avail. Square-class Mage Knights are already casting their spells and the Griffin Knights are engaging the metal birds that Cherub had shown to her. However, it was to no avail. The Mage Knights' attacks proved futile as they were unable to even make a scratch on any of the ACs including the lightweight ACs which are supposed to be thinly armored. It was like a fly crashing into a thick wall. The Griffin Knights, on the other hand, can't land a hit on any of the so-called fighter jets who just effortlessly dodge all the spells that they fire using fancy air maneuvers. To any spectator, the fancy maneuvers of the metal birds are very impressive. However… on the battlefield, it isn't a good idea. Not much later, the Armored Cores reduced the Mage Knights to nothing but piles of shredded meat using their strange rapid firing muskets and the bullets simply tore through the elemental shields that the Mage Knights casted in an effort to defend themselves. The fighter jets just blasted the hell out of the Griffin Knights until they were nothing but a bloody mist raining down from the sky. Louise could hear the screams of the death and dying as the metallic monstrosities slaughter anything on sight. As the one-sided carnage went on, Louise saw a red colored AC with oversized wings that let out a stream of unknown energy flying towards the Palace from the sky and saw an emblem of the number 9 bolded in black paint imposed on a circle on the AC's right shoulder. Suddenly, the red AC stopped and then its wings pointed upwards. Louise then saw eight white metallic sticks similar from what Cherub had shown to her flew out of the wings and is heading straight towards the Palace. To Louise's horror, the moment the white metallic sticks hit the Palace's walls, a deafening and blinding explosion erupted. When Louise looked again, only fear and shock were evident on her face. The Palace was gone and only an enormous blasted crater is seen where the Palace stood. The red AC responsible for it all simply hovered above the now ruins of the Palace watching the ground burn with its malevolent looking eyes.

"NNNNNOOOOOOOOO!", Louise screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Master wake up! Master wake up!", a male voice said.

The male's voice made Louise wake up. She was still recovering from her dream or, more proper to say, nightmare.

When she looked up to see who woke her up, it was Cherub… in his human form. Moreover, she is staring at it/him face to face.

"Kkyaaahhh!", Louise screamed as she fell off the other side of her bed.

Well… that's to be expected. For any girl, seeing a handsome guy waking them up in the morning is kind of a dream come true.

"C-Cherub why are you here?!", a blushing Louise screamed.

"Master you told me to wake you up at dawn", Cherub flatly replied.

After hearing Cherub's explanation, it all blew up in Louise mind: she is the reason why Cherub woke her up early in the morning as she remembered that she ordered it/him last night.

"F-Fine, help me prepare", Louise said.

However, just as Louise thought about it, she suddenly remembered something.

"Just stay outside Cherub, I can handle myself", Louise suddenly said.

Cherub didn't know what's up with Louise considering her clumsy stance in the morning but decided to comply nevertheless.

"Understood", Cherub said and immediately left Louise's room.

Once Cherub is already out of her room, Louise let out a deep sigh. For unknown reasons, Louise feels her heart pounding and, when she looked at the mirror, her face is red.

"N-No way!", Louise yelled, "There's no way that I'm falling for a golem! No! No! NOOOO!"

Cherub stared at the front door and heard Louise's grumblings from outside thanks to its/his extremely sensitive audio receptors which can detect the weakest sound and noises. Clearly, the sounds that Louise is making inside her room don't sound of somebody in danger but, somehow, it/he oddly wants to know the reason for it even though it doesn't concern it/him in any matter.

Suddenly, Cherub detected three heat signatures behind him.

"Ara, it's you Cherub", Kirche said with a playful tone in her voice.

Cherub turned around to see Kirche, Tabitha, and Kirche's familiar.

"Is there anything that you want from me?", Cherub asked.

Kirche closed in with Cherub until she managed to get skin contact with it/him.

"Nothing, I just want to hang with you", Kirche replied with a playful tone.

Currently, Kirche's assets are already pressing against Cherub in an attempt to sway it/him to her. Unfortunately, it will not work on it/him.

Flame, Kirche's familiar, started croaking upon seeing its master having skin contact with Cherub. Tabitha just watched the entire scene.

Being a machine, Cherub doesn't know about the concept and nature of sexual pleasure. After all, he isn't human and can't experience it. It/he is made of metal… not of flesh.

"Do you feel the heat darling?", Kirche said.

"What heat?", Cherub asked, "You body temperature is at its normal level."

"What a kill joy", Kirche said, "I was hoping that… I can have some fun with you."

Before Cherub can reply, Louise's voice suddenly rang out of the corridor.

"Zerbst! Don't do anything stupid with my familiar!", Louise said with a red face.

"Oh what a pity", Kirche replied, "Your familiar has exceeded far my expectations. I wonder how you summoned something like him. He's a _masterpiece _compared to you."

Kirche stressed the word "masterpiece" which infuriated Louise.

"I summoned a powerful and majestic familiar and that is all that matters!", Louise said angrily, "Cherub, come with me."

"Understood", Cherub said as he left Kirche to follow Louise.

Kirche watched at the leaving master and familiar pair.

"Geez, he didn't budged in", Kirche said as he eyed Cherub intently, "Oh well, I got plenty of time to sway him to me. I'm not called Kirche the Ardent for nothing."

Tabitha, on the other hand, just stood quietly from Kirche's side. However, she is as interested in Cherub like Kirche although in a different manner.

Back at Louise and Cherub…

The two are walking the corridor and, unknown to them, they are getting several glares from the students.

"Psst, who's that guy?", a female student asked, "He's handsome."

"I'm not sure but I think that's Zero's golem familiar", another female student said.

"What? You mean that talking metal golem that almost killed Guiche?", the first female student asked another question.

"Yes, he's too powerful even for a square-class mage's golem", the second female student replied.

"And I believe he can even assume human form based on what I heard", the second female voice added.

"That's… totally cool", the first female student said, "I considered golems to be not worth it but I now take it back all."

More chattering and whispers followed and Louise knew that she and her familiar is the center of it all. Honestly, she liked it. This is the first time that people talked about her accomplishment of summoning such a powerful familiar although she didn't actually liked the way her familiar attempted to kill one of her peers just to "impress". It's also quite refreshing that the center of such talks is not Kirche this time as she's already completely fed up with that.

"Cherub, just stay with me", Louise said.

To her surprise, she didn't hear Cherub speak its/his usual 'Understood' line now. Puzzled, she looked back only to see Cherub blocked by several female students all wearing brown capes clearly stating that they are first year students. One of them looks familiar.

"Sir… please receive this", a female first year student said while blushing and handing over to Cherub something.

Before Cherub can speak, it/he heard Louise's voice.

"Cherub, what are you doing?!", Louise yelled.

"They suddenly blocked my path and started talking to me", Cherub replied, "Which leaves me with no choice but to talk with them. You are not to worry master as I confirmed that they are not armed with any weapons."

"I'm not talking about that, just follow me to the classroom!", Louise said.

"Understood", Cherub said as the basket of fruits that he is holding that came from the first year student suddenly disappeared.

The spectacle shocked everyone watching.

"Sir, what happened to the basket?", one of the first year female students surrounding it/him asked.

Cherub gazed at the female student that asked him with his clear golden eyes before answering. Of course, the first year female student blushed and looked away because of it.

"I can store matter within space generated by disrupting the space and reality continuum", Cherub explained, "Since the matter in question is stored in a separate dimension, it would not weigh me down in any way although I am not really affected by such weight load as I am a machine. Simply put, I distort reality and use the space created by it to store items of my choosing and the space created is infinite which means I can carry items as much as I want. Overall, I can store objects with impunity as long as they are inorganic materials."

Louise and everyone that heard Cherub's explanation were surprised to hear it. It sounded like magic yet it didn't fell into any of the elements including Void. What kind of magic is this?

"Is there any kind of limitation to it?", Louise asked.

"There is no limit to it", Cherub answered, "Although just storing items using this method can become very complicated if you did not sort things properly. Furthermore, I cannot store any organic item with a complex and enormous organic cell structure like humans, animals, and plants. However, the flesh in the fruits has a small mass and lesser cell composition compared to the aforementioned organic beings which allows me to store them. As long as organic items are small enough, they can be stored and brought out in a moment's notice."

Louise as well as everyone that heard the explanation has a hard time digesting the new information that Cherub disclosed.

Even though it is unheard of, it is an impressive ability.

Seeing its/his matter drooling, Cherub took the chance to ask for the name of the first year female student that gave it/him the object that he just stored in its/his Advanced Matter Storage System.

"What is your name human?", Cherub asked.

The girl was taken aback for a moment before answering.

"U-uhm… I'm Katie De Castries", the first year student now known as Katie replied, "It's an honor to meet you Sir Cherub."

"Understood", Cherub replied, "Also, you are not to worry about Mr. Guiche's well being. His structural integrity isn't damaged on our duel yesterday."

"I-I don't care for him anymore", Katie replied and shook her head.

After a few more moments, Louise is finally able to get her act together and ordered Cherub.

"Alright, now let's go to the classroom", Louise ordered Cherub.

"Understood", came Cherub's reply.

From beyond the crowd, Kirche and Tabitha also heard Cherub's explanation.

"Wow, darling can pull off that kind of feat", Kirche exclaimed.

Tabitha just said one word "Unreal".

At the classroom…

Louise sat in her chair in the classroom waiting for the teacher to arrive.

As the wait continues, more chattering and whispers filled the air.

As Louise expected, it's the same as outside. With Cherub's capabilities, it's no wonder that she's now the center of attention considering that she's Cherub's master.

Suddenly, footsteps are heard from outside the room. The students took it as a cue that a teacher is now coming in. As the footsteps came into a halt, the door opened revealing Ms. Chevreuse.

Truth to be told, Mrs. Chevreuse is still weak thanks to the explosion Louise casted the other day. Either way, she resolved to teach for today.

"Alright class, take your seats", Mrs. Chevreuse said.

It didn't take a moment before Mrs. Chevreuse noticed Cherub who is just standing beside Louise which made her curious.

"Hmm… Is that your familiar Ms. Valliere?", Mrs. Chevreuse asked referring to Cherub.

"Yes", Louise said, "He is currently in his human form so he can fit in here. I'm going to test out his abilities later."

"G-Good", Mrs. Chevreuse stated worriedly.

The class then began. All throughout the class session, the female students' gazes are all around Cherub. Of course, the male students appear to be hostile to Cherub considering all the attention it/he is getting compared to them. Even Guiche is a bit annoyed although he couldn't do anything about it. He almost died yesterday and he isn't insane enough to risk his neck the second time around so he chose to just behave quietly at the moment.

Although feeling a bit uncomfortable because of the stares that her familiar is getting, Louise just dismissed it. After all, it is just natural for any impressive familiar to receive a lot of attention.

The class ended after an hour.

Louise and Cherub immediately left the classroom.

"Oh right", Louise said as she turned towards Cherub, "You need a sword so I'm going to buy you one in town."

Cherub frowned at the statement.

"Master, all of my weaponry is more than enough to bring any enemy down", Cherub said.

"That's the point!", Louise exclaimed, "Your weapons are all so powerful that you can accidentally wreck things up! You need a weapon that's just enough to disable people not kill them."

Cherub nodded at Louise's statement considering the logic of her argument.

Meanwhile, at Kirche and Tabitha…

"Geez, I'm bored", Kirche said.

They have just lost track of Louise and Cherub after classes. Right now, she is pondering on where the two could be. She and Tabitha are walking at the corridor when she saw something familiar through the windows that piqued her interest.

From the window, Kirche saw Louise and Cherub in its/his original form and they seem to be talking something in the court yard.

At the court yard…

"Are you serious that you can fly Cherub?", Louise asked.

"Yes, Ms. Siesta has already experienced a flight with me last night", Cherub replied.

"Last night?", Louise asked.

"Yes, that is when you gave me permission to look around the Academy before you slept", Cherub answered.

Louise just stared at it/him.

"Fine", Louise said, "Just ensure, you don't let me fall off."

Cherub then extended its/his palm in front of Louise telling her to hop on. With no other choice, Louise just complied with what Cherub wants her to do.

As soon as Louise is already in its/his palm, Cherub slowly ascended into the air and flew off.

"W-Were really flying!", Louise exclaimed.

"Be careful master, you might fall off", Cherub said.

Back at Kirche and Tabitha…

"Darling can also fly?!", Kirche said in disbelief although she can't deny it seeing what just Cherub did.

A playful smile then wrote itself in Kirche's face.

"Just wait darling, the Ardent is coming to you", Kirche said to herself.

Tabitha, who also saw what Cherub did, just closed her book and said nothing.

"Hey Tabitha, let's follow them", Kirche said as she tried to convince her friend.

Tabitha didn't answered but she gave a nod.

"Then its good", Kirche said.

Back at Louise and Cherub…

"You can fly this high and fast?!", Louise asked.

"Yes, but I can still fly higher than this", Cherub replied, "However, I would not be able to ensure your safety as the human body will not be able to adapt to the sudden drop of oxygen supply instantly at higher altitudes."

Louise didn't know what the last part is supposed to mean but just saying that her familiar can fly like this and still do better amazes her. Dragons are no match to this in terms of how high it can get while Wind dragons would not be able to catch up with Cherub in terms of speed.

A few moments later, Cherub finally spotted the city of Tristania and told its/his master about it.

"Master, I can already see the city. I am decreasing my altitude so we can descend safely", Cherub said.

Louise is not able to realize that Cherub told her about landing. She's still tranced on her imagination regarding Cherub's abilities. It was only when Cherub's feet clasped on the ground that made Louise snap out of her thoughts.

"We are here master", Cherub said as it/he switched to its/his human form.

"H-Huh?", was Louise's only reply.

When she regained her focus, she just saw Cherub carrying her bridal-style.

"P-Put me down!", Louise said with a red face while swinging her arms back and forth.

Cherub immediately complied and put Louise down on the ground gently.

"Y-You should be grateful that I'm doing this for you", Louise said although she's not facing Cherub, "Just follow me."

Cherub complied and followed Louise into the city.

The two searched around the town looking for a store. There are many stores in Tristania but Louise immediately lost interest in them.

"Why is there no store that have what I want?", Louise complained, "Cherub, this city is large so do you know if I missed a store or two?"

"Yes", Cherub replied, "There's a store not far from here that sells swords and other solid steel weaponry."

"How do you know that?", Louise asked.

"This city is just a quarter of the cities that I have seen in my world and each city in my world supports an estimated human population of at least 8 million people alone at the minimum", Cherub explained, "Considering the size of this city, I can detect all buildings and other targets in my radar."

"WHAT?! Is that even possible? !", Louise asked incredulously.

"Yes, with better technologies and equipment, it is possible to support the aforementioned population size", Cherub added.

"A-Anyway, let's just head to that weapons store that you said", Louise said.

Cherub nodded and the two started walking.

From afar, two familiar figures watched the leaving pair.

"Fufu, looks like I found both of them", Kirche said, "Still, I wonder how did they managed to get here this fast. Anyway, let's follow them Tabitha."

Tabitha who was with her nodded although she left her wind dragon familiar, Sylphid, as she won't fit in the city.

Back at Louise and Cherub…

The two are now inside the weapons store that Cherub said.

True to its name, the weapon store is filled with weapons on every corner of the room. Not an inch of the walls are free of weapons except the windows.

"Greetings", the store owner said, "Do you want to purchase wands for yourself?"

The store owner is referring to Louise.

"I'm looking for a sword for my familiar", Louise asked.

"A sword huh?", the store owner said staring at Cherub.

"Well, I got an assortment of swords for him so choose at your discretion", the store owner said.

"Well Cherub, you are free to search for whatever sword you want", Louise said to Cherub.

"Understood", Cherub replied.

Cherub looked around the store in search of a sword. It/he meticulously gazed each sword scanning the molecular structure of their alloys to see if they are durable enough. As it/he searched, the molecular readings of the alloys of every sword it/he see is technically the same with the only difference being the type of material used in the alloy itself.

Suddenly, Cherub heard a voice.

"Hey, searching for a sword pal?", a voice said.

Cherub looked around and saw that the voice is coming from beneath a pile of swords nestled in a barrel.

It/he approached the barrel and grabbed what it/he thinks caused the voice. It turns out that it/he grabbed an old rusty sword. While old, the sword itself is long enough to be treated as such and not a short sword which is just at least twice longer than a knife.

"Finally, somebody pulled me out from that ton of metal scraps!", the sword talked and it seems to have a mouth because of a metal piece located on the pommel of the sword going up and down whenever the voice is heard.

"Derflinger! Don't scare the customers!", the store owner said angrily.

"A talking sword?! Where did that come from?!", Louise asked.

Cherub scanned the sword now called as Derflinger. Results turned out but not the same as the other swords. The results showed an energy surge within the sword although the energy itself cannot be identified due to the lack of information within Cherub's databanks to compare with. The results also did not show any Artificial Intelligence embedded on the sword despite the fact that it could talk and even have a personality of its own. The metal constituting the blade is made of an unknown alloy. The final piece of the results shows how well built the molecular structure of the alloy that make up the strange blade that it is capable of surviving huge amounts of pressure that can make several swords break due to wear.

Aside from the results, Cherub noticed the runes on his left hand glowing and he detected a surge of energy flowing in it/him.

"I'll take this blade", Cherub stated.

"W-What?! You're taking that rubbish?!", Louise yelled.

"Hey girl don't call me rubbish! The name's Derflinger but you can call me Derf", the sword now known as Derflinger said.

Cherub turned to the store owner and asked him.

"Where did you get this sword?", Cherub asked.

"Oh, I got it during a cheap antique auction. A fellow sword smith invited me on an auction of antiquated weapons last year and that's where I get that", the store owner answered.

"Understood", Cherub replied.

"That will be just 20 ecu if you are buying it", the store owner said.

"F-Fine", Louise said.

Louise just bought the rusty sword for Cherub as she doesn't have any choice. For one, she's a mage that doesn't have any expertise in discerning the quality of swords. And two, she's lacking in money and she thinks that the other swords in the shop will be of higher price than what she have in her wallet.

The two then left the shop. Outside, Louise's eyebrows twitched.

"K-Kirche?!", Louise yelled, "What are you doing here?!"

"You really think you can escape from the Ardent are you?!", Kirche replied.

"Fair enough! We're already going back!", Louise replied.

Kirche noticed the rusty sword that Cherub have so she gave it/him a present.

"Here's a present for you Cherub", Kirche said as she handed to Cherub a fancy-looking golden sword.

"H-hey what are you doing?!", Louise asked angrily.

"I'm just giving Cherub a real sword compared to you", Kirche simply said.

Louise and Kirche have an argument while Tabitha just stood there doing nothing. While all of that is happening, Cherub took the moment to scan the sword that Kirche gave it/her.

The results showed that the blade itself is made of gold and the molecular structure of the metal constituting the blade suggests a slightly more durable sword compared to the ones inside the shop. However, it lacks one trait that made Cherub choose Derflinger.

Cherub lowered the blade and drew Derflinger.

"Partner, what's up?", Derflinger asked.

"Can you conduct energy into you?", Cherub asked.

"Yes, what about it?", Derflinger replied.

Without a word, Derflinger felt in itself an unknown energy flow through it from Cherub.

"Ah… Partner, I feel revitalized", Derflinger said, "It's been several millennia since the last time I felt this power."

Suddenly, the rust covering Derflinger disappeared and out came a shiny sword. What used to be a rusty brown sword in Cherub's hand suddenly turned into well-polished brand new sword ready for battle.

"W-What happened?!", Louise stuttered on seeing the event transpired.

"How did that happened?", Kirche interjected.

Tabitha just closed her book and waited for Cherub to explain.

"The blade itself appears to be an efficient conductor of energy which is what most swords lack including the blade given by Ms. Kirche", Cherub explained as a beam of energy similar to the MLB-TWILIGHT erupted from Derflinger increasing the range of its reach.

Louise jaw dropped at what she saw. She intended to give Cherub a weapon of lesser power so it/he won't kill anybody by accident but she just made things worse.

"Darling, you're so cool!", Kirche exclaimed.

Tabitha just eyed the now-energy infused Derflinger with watchful eyes. Now, she has more reason to keep an eye over Cherub.

"Wow, partner I've never expected that you can pull this off!", Derfliner stated, "Man, waiting in that pile of scraps is worth it after all!"

"Hmm… it is starting to grow dark", Kirche said, "I think we should go back to the Academy before it gets really dark out here."

Louise had no choice but to agree with Kirche. She and Cherub are already going back to the Academy anyways.

"Cherub let's head back", Louise said.

"Understood", Cherub said as it/he deactivated the energy flowing into Derflinger causing the sword to revert back to its original size although the rust that used to cover the sword is permanently gone.

With all things settled, the four headed straight back to the Academy with Kirche and Tabitha riding on Sylphid while Louise rode on Cherub who reverted to its/his original form to fly much to Kirche and Tabitha's surprise again. Derflinger is stored in the Advanced Matter Storage System by Cherub because the sword itself is made of metal.

_-CHAPTER 8 END-_

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**PS: Katie's surname of De Castries is taken from the House of Castries. For those who don't know who Katie is, she is the girl that Guiche tried to hit on much to Montmorency's chagrin. Stay tuned for the next chapter. **

**PS: Try guessing who is the AC described in Louise's dream. Any Armored Core fan knows who this AC is.**


	9. Chapter 9: Operation Rapunzel

**Author's Notes: I saw that most of the reviews for chapter 8 tend to point on Nineball eh? I never expected that he's this scary. Heck, I managed to take out his "cousin" several times in AC3:SL with not much difficulty. Just the 1000-shot machine gun and triple missile + 36-missile extension is all that's needed to take the boss in SL (I used this combo every time I fought it) . But I might be wrong; I never faced Nineball in the AC games that he appears in because I don't have a PS1 or a PS2. I only have a PSP but none of the AC games ported in PSP allows me to face Nineball (with the exception of Ninebreaker but I can't find this game for my PSP anywhere). Either way, you guys are right… It's Nineball Seraph. Okay, about the question of whether Nineball Seraph appears or not, let's just say that a nice bombshell will be exploding later on in the story but not now regarding him. I can still include Nineball without him having to appear personally in the story but I would need to stretch some facts in doing so.**

**Skies-of-Total-Darkness, thanks for the tip of giving me an idea of the papers and equipment. The moment you made that post, I immediately searched for info regarding the AC weaponry you talked about and they sure rock although I got difficulty finding them. Even though this is quite late, thanks for the tip.**

**Also, for the question of things regarding smut here, Kirche's presence basically sealed that thing as a yes. Also, this chapter contains the obligatory encounter with Count Mott.**

**For everybody that are keeping track of this story, thanks for your continued support!**

**Anyways, on with the story. Enjoy reading Chapter 9!**

* * *

**==========Chapter 9: Operation Rapunzel==========**

The group made it back to the Academy in an hour. Louise is riding on Cherub while Tabitha and Kirche are on Sylphid. It was a clear and quiet night. Only a handful of students are left on the school grounds and the few that saw the group return made a jaw drop the moment they saw them. It was not because of the sight of a dragon landing down on the Academy grounds but that of a large golem-looking object that is currently descending to land on the ground. Seriously, golems are too heavy that it's impossible for them to fly. It has wings but they aren't flapping which makes them puzzled as to how it can even levitate off the ground. However, the golem's wings emit some sort of energy that they don't know. It's none of the four elements that they knew about. It doesn't look Void as well.

"Look at that!", a male student exclaimed.

"Whoa! It's flying!", another male student exclaimed as he witness Cherub float in midair.

"Is it a golem?", a female student asked.

"W-wait somebody's on the golem's left shoulder!", a male student said.

As the 'golem' touched the ground, the human figure perched on the 'golem's' left shoulder came into full view.

"I-Its Louise!", a female student said.

As soon as Cherub touched the ground, it/he knelt in one knee and extended its/his arm so its/his master can come down from him.

Louise managed to hop down from Cherub's palm down into the ground safely. As she looked at her classmates looking at them, she saw them all with an amazed look on their faces. If Louise is to compare the looks of her classmates now with that of the past, it's no different comparing white to black. Personally, she liked this event. Now, nobody can call her Zero anymore. What's more, her own familiar is both majestic and powerful and also… whatever. It's simply too much for her even to handle. Still, being too much is better than nothing. Also, she's now even more satisfied that her peers now call her by her real name and not that annoying and degradable runic name. Now about that, it's a good idea that she start thinking of her own proper runic name now but what can that be?

After being satisfied with the shocked look of her classmates, Louise turned around to Cherub and ordered it/him.

"Cherub, turn to your human form now", Louise ordered.

"Understood", Cherub said.

A few moments passed and the Academy grounds were enveloped in bright white light. Surely, the mater alteration process takes time and the light clearly says that the matter in question is really being altered. Either way, the light made everyone in the Academy grounds cover their eyes. When the light faded, a young man just as tall as Guiche appeared in place of the Louise's 'golem'.

"Wah! That guy's so cool!", a female student said.

The attention of every female that happened to be in the area shifted towards Cherub. Kirche is right, Cherub is really a masterpiece: Destructive and majestic as a powerful 'golem' and 'impressive' due to the fact that it could change into its second form.

Before Louise can order around Cherub, the female students in the area bunched up around Cherub. Most of them came closer due to curiosity on the grounds of how come a big golem was able to change its size to that proportional to a human their age. No signs of magic whatsoever which makes the entire issue more mysterious.

One of the female students poked Cherub in the face to see if her guess is right.

"T-This feels like human skin!", the female student exclaimed, "But it's a bit cold though."

Cherub just stood immobile with the female students all around it/him. It/he ran a scan on all of them and found no weapons or any sort of hostility in them which gives it/him no option but to let them do as they want. They are all classified as civilians as well which means he cannot attack them as per its programming is considered.

"Stay away from my familiar!", Louise yelled on seeing the female students surrounding Cherub.

The female students surrounding Cherub turned around to look at Louise while Cherub just stood like a statue. Kirche asked Louise regarding that matter.

"So you can have him for yourself?", Kirche inquired with a fantasizing tone in her voice.

Louise flustered red on Kirche's question before replying.

"What do you mean for myself?!", Louise reply.

Kirche didn't answer but gave her a glare saying "I can have him for myself if you don't make a move".

Louise simply didn't noticed or just ignored the concealed threat and made her way towards her familiar.

"Why are you associating with these people?", Louise asked Cherub the moment she got near it/him.

"I just stood on my place waiting for your order master", Cherub replied.

"F-Fine then come with me", Louise ordered.

"Understood", Cherub replied and he immediately followed Louise towards her room.

The students that are still in the Academy grounds watch as the master and her familiar slowly shrink in the horizon.

"Okay! Once I become a second year, I'm going to summon something like Louise's familiar!", a female student said who turns out to be a first year given by her brown cape.

"Me as well!", another female student said, "It's worth it!"

Tabitha went away quietly as Kirche followed her.

A few moments later, Louise and Cherub reached the former's room. As soon as the two are inside the room, Louise closed the door and turned her attention on her familiar.

"Why are you associating with them?", Louise asked.

"Associating?", Cherub inquired.

"The one where you just let those girls get around you. You shouldn't let it happen!", Louise yelled.

"Does having humans or anyone around you means associating already?", Cherub asked again.

"Just why are you telling me that?!", Louise asked angrily.

"I do not get the idea of how can simply being around female humans be considered associating", Cherub exclaimed.

Louise just gaped at Cherub's statement. But everything just made sense in a split second. She facepalmed herself for not realizing this sooner.

"Listen Cherub", Louise began, "As your master, I don't want you to interact with anyone without my permission unless you think that it is extremely important. Do I make myself clear?"

"Understood", Cherub replied.

"Good", Louise said, "It's night time now so I'm going to sleep. And since I'm not that of an oppressive master, I'm giving you the chance of wandering around tonight but you need to come back here in the morning to wake me up. Is that clear?"

"Understood", Cherub replied.

Cherub went out of Louise's room as it/he decided to wander around the Academy. It/he has nothing better to do in its/his master's room and wandering outside gives the chances of finding something worth to do.

As soon as Cherub is already outside of her room and is outside hearing range, Louise finally caught up her breath signaling that she's now trying to ease herself.

"T-that was close", Louise told herself, "Just why I'm that attached to my familiar? He's just a construct made of metal."

Louise mumbled more on what she is thinking before she sank her head on her bed's pillow.

Meanwhile, Cherub made it back on the Academy grounds. Fortunately, the area is currently empty of humans which means no one will try to start a conversation with it/him. Regardless, its/his first thing that he thought is to find Siesta. Strange enough, he didn't find Siesta anywhere. Its/his radar scans didn't register her heat signature around its/his immediate proximity which makes it somewhat strange. There aren't any scheduled tasks that Siesta did which will take her an entire day to finish. She should be within the Academy at this time.

Either way, Cherub found it best not to pursue finding Siesta at this point as the effort won't be worth it at the moment. Instead, he drew out Derflinger out of its/his Advanced Matter Storage System.

"Partner, what was that?!", Derflinger asked.

To Derflinger's perspective, it appeared just a moment when Cherub placed it/him in the Advanced Matter Storage System but it turned out than more than an hour passed once Cherub released him.

"I stored you in a space dimension so you would not be a liable weight whenever I switch back to my true form", Cherub replied.

"What form?", Derflinger asked.

"My true form is several dozen times larger than what you are currently seeing right now", Cherub explained, "I'm probably as big as the largest golem that can be created by a mage."

"You're not kidding partner?", Derflinger asked.

"Unfortunately, it is the truth", Cherub said, "Now, I want to practice using you as I want combat data on using two-handed swords. I already mastered the use of my energy blades so all that is left is to master using a different weapon type."

"You got that partner", Derflinger replied, "But don't put me back in there. It doesn't really hurt me but it gives me a feeling that time's off while I'm there."

Cherub nodded as he brandished Derflinger into a fighting stance. The gandalfr runes on Cherub's left hand started to glow as Cherub raised Derflinger for a slashing stroke.

As Cherub is practicing on sword-play, a four-legged reptilian with a red skin and a flaming tail is watching Cherub from afar. It then gave a croak before leaving the area.

Back at Cherub, learning sword-play turned out to be an easy task. Perhaps because he is a machine particularly one designed for battle with an extremely advanced and complicated artificial intelligence. Every single strike and moment of training immediately imprints on its/his databanks unlike a human who has an even chance of forgetting one term or another and, thus, needs extensive training and a lot of time.

"Whoa! partner!", Derflinger exclaimed, "You already got the skills in no time flat!"

"I am a machine built for combat so learning a fighting style is of no difficulty to me", Cherub replied.

Several minutes later, Cherub stopped training on how to use a sword and started wandering around the Academy grounds. It/he didn't put Derflinger inside his Advanced Matter Storage System just like what the talking sword wanted and was just kept as its/his side.

Cherub spent the next couple of minutes walking until it/he stumbled upon somebody. The person in front of it/him looks about 22 years old and returns information that he is also a member of the Academy's servant staff much like Siesta.

"Hello Sir familiar", the man that Cherub stumbled on said, 'What can I do for you?"

Cherub weighed its/his options. Clearly, he has nothing to order around the human in front of it/him which makes it clear that it/he can simply dismiss him but something immediately crossed in its/his databanks.

"Can you tell me if you know a servant by the name of Siesta?", Cherub asked.

The man in front of him looked down before he replied.

"She is just hired today by Count Mott, the messenger of the Palace", the man said, "Since she is hired, she immediately packed up her things and went to the Count's mansion to start her service there."

"I sense that you look sad, why is it?", Cherub asked on noticing that something is wrong with the man in front of him.

The man paused for a moment before answering.

"For any female servant, to serve under a noble means being that noble's mistress", the man said, "Or should I say as a pastime girl. I feel sorry for her, her life's going to get a lot rough now."

Cherub immediately evaluated the information given to it/him. Currently, Siesta is the only other human other than Louise that it/he has close contact to. Therefore, retrieving Siesta back is important as she is the only other source of information that it/he have at the moment. Moreover, Siesta also disclosed information about a cache of "papers and equipment" which seems to pique its/his curiosity to figure out what those things may be. While it/he has more than adequate combat weapons even for a Controller Armored Core, just looking at this intriguing stuff never hurts.

Coming up with a conclusion, Cherub replied.

"Can you tell me where I can find this Count Mott?", Cherub asked.

The man was a bit perplexed at Cherub's question before replying.

"Count Mott lives in an estate not far from here", the man answered, "The trip from here to his estate would take about three hours by horse."

"Understood", Cherub replied, "You can now leave if you want."

The man nodded and immediately walked away.

As soon as Cherub was sure that the man was gone, it/he started to plan its/his course of action on the matter. It is currently night time which means that Siesta is already at the Count's estate. This makes an immediate action out of the question. Busting into a well-connected man's place is definitely an equivalent of a suicide charge. While it is true that it/he can simply storm the area and win thanks to the destructive power of its/his weapons, the consequences will be not good for Louise as she is its/his master especially if deaths take their toll in the ensuing standout and much higher if the Count is killed. Whatever actions it/he will take will be charged on its/his master. The best course of action that he could think of, at the moment, is to go at the Count's estate at daylight so as to eliminate the accusation of either theft or assassination and challenge the Count to a duel to get Siesta back. This plan came up from the duel with Guiche. The blonde boy stated that duels are fought between two combatants in an honorable fashion and, according to the information he obtained, it is possible to obtain something through a duel without taking too much trouble or repercussion for its/his master.

After making up its/his plan, Cherub immediately started walking. However, as it/he is about to turn, Kirche's fire salamander greeted it/him and the fire salamander wants it/him to follow it somewhere. With nothing really good to do, Cherub nodded at the fire salamander and the red reptile started walking with Cherub in tow.

After several moments of walking, the two eventually stopped in front of somebody's room. As Cherub looked at the door, it/he immediately discovered that it was Kirche's room. The flame lizard that guided it/him there is convincing it/him to enter.

Upon opening the door, Cherub immediately noticed Kirche wearing nothing but her undies but it/he doesn't have any idea of what is it for.

"I'm glad you came Cherub", Kirche said.

Suddenly, Flame pushed Cherub towards its master and the next thing that happened is Cherub already having close contact with Kirche on the bed. Flame found not difficulty in pushing Cherub as it/he always calibrates its/his own weight which is possible every time it/he alters the molecular composition of any matter it/he wants to change including himself although organic matter isn't included.

"So darling do you want to spend time with me?", Kirche asked.

Cherub thought on making a decision. It/he has nothing to do at the moment and its/his master is currently asleep which leaves it/him with no orders to follow. With the answer being just a yes or a no, it/he chose the former. But it/he didn't realize the consequences since it/he isn't human.

Kirche was delighted on Cherub's answer as Cherub put Derflinger against the wall before the two went into bed.

"Partner you're also popular with women are you?", Derflinger exclaimed.

The next moments were rather pleasant for human experience. However, that pleasant experience was being interrupted by male humans who are basically levitating and looking through the window of Kirche's room. They appear to complain that Kirche should be spending time with them and not with a commoner-looking man. Regardless, the male students were alternately blown away by Kirche and Flame using their fireballs. As the last of the men let out a scream of "ARRGGGGHHH!" as they fall down, the door of Kirche's room suddenly blast open revealing an obviously pissed-off Louise.

"Zerbst! What are you doing with my familiar?!", Louise said with her face flushing red in anger.

"I told you", Kirche replied, "That if you don't make a move, I'm going to make mine. It seems that it's worth it."

Louise twitched on Kirche's reply and ordered Cherub to get up and return to her room. Surprisingly, however, she noticed that Cherub didn't make any sort of face expression and its/his face remained blank and calm. Regardless, Cherub complied with her command.

When Louise and Cherub made it back to the room of the former, she immediately closed the door and asked Cherub angrily.

"What do you think you're doing there?!", Louise questioned.

"Ms. Zerbst just invited me to her room", Cherub explained, "And since I have nothing to do at the moment she invited me, I simply accepted her inivitation."

"Next time, do not accept what that Germanian whore says", Louise says, "And don't do that sort of thing again!"

"Does that thing even matter master?", Cherub asked.

"Of course it is because…", Louise said, "F-forget it! I'm going to sleep. You stay here and wake me up in the morning."

"Understood", Cherub said.

The next day…

Cherub woke up Louise like the other day. The result is the same like yesterday. It seems that Louise isn't accustomed yet to Cherub waking her up in the morning.

The usual routines came up although Cherub said that it/he will need to do something which Louise just approved when the two are about to go to Louise's classroom.

As soon as it/he obtained its/his master's permission, Cherub head straight for the Academy grounds and shifted to its/his true form. It/he then took off and engaged its/his overboost function to get at its/his destination quicker. Cherub's destination is Count Mott's estate.

It only took Cherub about 6 minutes to get to its/his destination.

To prevent arousing a ruckus due to its/his size and appearance, Cherub landed on a forested area and switched to its/his second form there. In its/his second form, it/he slung a bag around his shoulder so he could use it as an alibi for his excuse on entering the Count's estate should the guards there asked it/him what is its/his intention there.

It/he then made his way for the Count's estate and it/he reached the place in less than 4 minutes.

Just like its/his anticipation, the guards did ask it/him on his intention for meeting the Count.

"I am a messenger sent by the Academy", Cherub replied, "And I am delivering a message to Count Mott."

The guards were easily convinced by Cherub's explanation considering the commoner-looking attire it/he is wearing not to mention the bag slanged to it/him which further asserts her identity as a messenger.

Cherub entered the Count's mansion without any problem. One of the maids in the mansion told it/him to wait in the living room while the Count is preparing.

After several minutes, the Count finally appeared. Currently, the Count is wearing several layers of clothes that made him look fat and several pieces of jewelry adorn his clothes.

"So what does a commoner say?", Count Mott said in a rather arrogant manner.

"My master sent me here to retrieve a maid that you obtained from the Academy", Cherub answered, "The maid in question that you obtained is my master's personal maid."

"Is that all?", Count Mott snarled, "I don't care who your master is but if you want to get the maid back, you need to beat me on a duel first."

Cherub then weighed its/his options. The noble in front of it/him is challenging him to a duel much like Guiche. Assuming that the noble will also fight on the same lines as Guiche, it/he doesn't see any difficulty in the ensuing duel if it/he chooses. Furthermore, it/he doesn't have any reliable combat data to properly assess the combat abilities of a mage so accepting this duel is a good opportunity to obtain such data. The Count also looks stronger compared to Guiche despite the Count's flaunty appearance.

"I accept the duel", Cherub said, 'And if I win, you should hand the maid back."

The Count just looked at Cherub with amusement. Clearly, Cherub looks like about it/he is 17 or 18 years old which places it/him in the age range of the students in the Academy. Consequently, a young man challenging him to a duel is really amusing not to mention that it will be a one-sided affair especially since the young man looks a lot of a commoner. Also, he doesn't have anything to demand in return once he wins. Just beating the insolent commoner and putting him in his place is already enough. That is… only if he know that the 'young man' in front of him is not what 'he' seems to be…

"Very well then", Count Mott replied, "The duel will be held at the courtyard. I will meet you there."

A few minutes later, the two combatants are now in the courtyard with the Count's guards that happened to be in the area as well as the servants who heard that a duel is going served as the audience.

"I am also known as Mott the Wave", Count Mott said as he ready his wand to chant, "And I am also a triangle-class water mage."

Cherub didn't answer back except he drew out Derflinger out of its/his slingbag. The runes on its/his left hand immediately glowed.

"This is what I want partner, a real taste of battle", Derflinger said.

The Count was a bit taken aback by the sight of the sword that the commoner in front of him pulled out not to mention said sword can talk. Regardless, he chanted immediately. As soon as he finished chanting, the water in the vases located in the courtyard suddenly sprang out of their containers and turned into snakes made out of water.

"Charge!", Count Mott said.

The water snakes complied and charged at Cherub.

However, before the snakes can even close in, Cherub made fast strokes with Derflinger and the water snakes were cut in an instant. It only took four seconds for Cherub to dispatch the water snakes which then reverted to small pools of water.

"That guy just cut the water snakes off that easily!", a guard who was watching the duel said.

Count Mott didn't like what he saw. He immediately casted another spell and, this time, sharp icicles manifested from the pools of water that used to be water snakes and levitated up in the air. Their sharp pointed edges are all aimed at Cherub.

"Now die commoner!", Count Mott exclaimed as the icicles rained down on Cherub.

Much to his shock, all of the icicles were pulverized with just a single slash and Cherub immediately dashed forward far faster than what a commoner can to Count Mott.

The next thing that Count Mott saw is Cherub right next to him with Derflinger positioned several inches away from his neck.

"Do you still want to continue?", Cherub asked emotionlessly.

The Count wasn't able to react anything other than surrender outright. Seems like things tend to go faster when one's life is in danger huh?

"I-I surrender", Count Mott said, "You can have the maid."

Count Mott immediately gestured one of the servants to fetch the maid he requested from the Academy and Siesta showed up who is wearing maid clothes similar to those that the maids in the Count's service wears.

The guards who happened to watch the duel down to the very end immediately parted to make way for the 'commoner' who easily beat up a noble too easily. They obviously don't want to mess up with a warrior of this caliber.

The Count glared at the two retreating figures as he massaged his neck with a very careful glare before heading back to his mansion.

Cherub and Siesta then made their way to a forested area.

"S-Sir Cherub, why are we here?", Siesta asked.

"We went to this place so we can go back to the Academy in just a few minutes", Cherub replied.

"Huh?", Siesta's confused reply.

"Regardless, please hold Derflinger for the entire duration of the trip", Cherub added.

As soon as Cherub handed over Derflinger to Siesta, a blinding white light erupted forcing Siesta to cover her eyes.

When she opened her eyes as soon as the light faded away, Siesta saw Cherub really in its/his real form. Derflinger was shocked by what he saw.

"Partner! Is that you?", Derflinger asked.

"Yes", came Cherub's reply.

"Whoa! You really are that big!", Derflinger stated.

Cherub then extended its/his arm to allow Siesta to ride on its/his palm for the trip.

As soon as Siesta is now on his palm, Cherub boosted slowly upward and the trip back to the Academy began.

_-CHAPTER 9 END-_

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**PS: Well, that wraps up chapter 9. Hope you guys like it. My college term is now hectic and tight so I might not be able to update my stories that fast. Anyways, please be patient. Updates will still come and you guys can count on that.**

**Next up: the Familiar exhibition. Feel free to comment what sort of tricks Cherub can pull out at that event in the reviews.**


	10. Chapter 10: Firepower Exhibition

**Author's Notes: Took me long to upload this chapter because of some serious work at school. Anyway, here's chapter 10. This chapter covers the Familiar Exhibition and there will be some tricks that Cherub will pull off. Regarding the tricks, thanks for the reviewers because I got a clear picture of what tricks Cherub will pull off here will by mixing your suggestions into one. Bear in mind that I will twist some canonical events or I may not use them at all depending on my liking but the plot will still be sensible.**

**Also, the next turn of "A Commander's Path: Road To Freedom" will be coming a few days from now.**

**Without further ado, on with the chapter.**

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**==========Chapter 10: Firepower Exhibition==========**

Cherub and Siesta were able to get back at the Academy before Louise's class session ended. The entire trip didn't take long because of the speed Cherub is cruising at. The entire field all around the academy is almost empty since all students are in the classrooms for their sessions. This gave Cherub the chance to unload Siesta without any disturbance.

"I'll be returning now and I'll inform the others", Siesta said as she hurried back to the servants' dormitory after placing Derflinger next to Cherub. Cherub can't take hold of Derflinger at the moment due to its/his size

Cherub looked on as Siesta retreats back into the horizon.

When Siesta is completely out of sight, Cherub shifted to its/his human form, grabbed Derflinger and began walking towards the direction of the building where Louise's classroom is situated. It's time to fetch up its/his master.

Within a few days after being summoned to this world, Cherub managed to quickly adapt to the new world it/he is in. Its/his memory map capability allowed it/him to easily maneuver around the Academy while its/his bio-sensor function allowed it/him to detect humans within reach of its/his radar especially those that have a registered heat signature like Louise.

Furthermore, this world is much better than the one in Layered due to a number of reasons. One, this world is much cleaner than Layered considering that no sort of gaseous chemicals are being emitted up in the air. Air pollution is completely non-existent. Second, since there is no chemical pollution of any sort, biological life is very healthy and capable of sustaining on its own especially the local wildlife and fauna. Humans don't have any diseases induced by radiation poisoning and other man-made errors which keep the death rate at a too low of a level compared to Layered.

While this world has good sides, it also has bad ones. One of the most prominent is the lack of any technological advancement anywhere it/he look at. This world resembles the European medieval-era style of human life as far as Cherub knows based on the information stored in its/his databanks. However, the good point of this bad side is that factions in this world don't have any access to weapons of mass destruction or WMDs and, as such, this keeps the death rate from any wars interrupting to deal heavy losses on human life and other catastrophic consequences. Based on its/his calculation and what little information it/he can deduce, the average casualty rate of wars fought in this world number from a hundred to about ten thousand deaths and five hundred to twelve thousand wounded. These numbers are still big but these are nothing compared to the wars in its/his world where the estimated average casualty rate rolls from a hundred thousand to one millions dead with an additional three hundred thousand to two million wounded per war. The part about magic can become a real factor here due to its potency in battle although Cherub deemed it to be inefficient due to the amount of time needed to actually cast even just one spell and the fact that these humans capable of casting magic identified as nobles or mages lack the sufficient numbers to cement their effectiveness on the battlefield in the long term. Overall, mages can be treated like a very fragile piece of artillery: Packs a powerful punch but very fragile and weak when caught in melee. This, however, is what it/he assumed based on the two previous encounters he has with the nobles.

Cherub continued on its/his walk until it/he detected that Louise's heat signature is just a couple of clicks away from it/him at which it/he hurried its/his pace. It didn't take Cherub to find Louise due to its/his master's unique physical features like pink hair and a short stature aside from her unique heat signature. When it/he reached Louise, she is having an argument with Kirche as always and Tabitha just ignores the two as usual. It looks like some sort of routine in Louise's life as Cherub will put it.

"So Louise where did your familiar go?", Kirche asked.

"I don't need to answer your question Zerbst", Louise replied.

Before Kirche can even say anything, she spotted Cherub approaching them due to the stares of the other students also in the area which she noticed.

"Oh look! It's Cherub!", Kirche exclaimed.

Cherub continued walking towards Louise and stopped when it/he is right next to Louise.

"Where have you been?", Louise asked.

"I've just retrieved your personal maid from an unwarranted noble without your permission", Cherub stated.

"What do you mean?", Louise asked again.

"A noble by the name of Count Mott have taken ms. Siesta without your consent which I believe was possible through the Headmaster", Cherub answered.

"T-Those perverted lechers!", Louise whispered with a pissed-off voice.

Suddenly, Kirche interrupted.

"Well Louise", Kirche said, "Instead of getting angry with those two old men, why don't you just think of what to do regarding the upcoming Familiar Exhibition? I believe it's slated to happen around tomorrow and Princess Henrietta will be arriving today to watch the exhibition tomorrow."

Louise suddenly yelped at Kirche's statement especially the last one.

"W-Wh-What?!", Louise shrieked, "The princess is coming t-today?!"

Kirche instantly noticed the predicament that Louise is in which made her amused and decided to make it more interesting.

"Yes it is", Kirche said simply.

With that, Louise's face expression just got more fascinating… well in Kirche's perspective.

Suddenly, Louise looked at Cherub.

"Cherub what sort of tricks can you pull off?", Louise asked.

Cherub looked at Louise for a moment before replying.

"I can do the matter conversion if you want master", Cherub stated, "Although I will do it in a larger scale if this Familiar Exhibition is some sort of a capability demonstration event."

"L-Larger scale?!", Kirche said in an amazed tone, "You mean you can turn a large boulder into a big chunk of gold?!"

"Partner you serious?!", Derflinger stated.

"Actually, I can also turn boulders of rock into diamonds if needed", Cherub stated.

Louise, of course, is surprised to hear it. Now she has something to show off real big at the Familiar Exhibition.

"Wow", Kirche exclaimed, "You're very impressive darling."

"Having you as a partner isn't bad at all, partner", Derflinger stated.

"Alright Zerbst", Louise said confidently, "Me and my familiar will have something to do for now so goodbye."

With that, Louise left with Cherub in tow. Kirche, as well as the crowd in the corridors who also heard the conversation, we're just standing there in silence. They were all amazed by the fact that they are just a day away from seeing the full capability of the impressive golem that is Louise's familiar.

At Louise and Cherub…

The two are currently in Louise's room after a few minutes of walking in the corridors. Louise opened the door to allow her and Cherub to get in. After the two are inside the room, Louise shut the door close and spoke with Cherub.

"Cherub", Louise began, "Do you need to practice your talents to ensure that they are working properly?"

"Negative", Cherub replied, "As soon as I learned a particular skill, I can use that skill with maximum proficiency and efficiency even if I had not used said skill for a long period of time."

"T-Then can you turn this into a lump of diamond", Louise said as she handed over to Cherub several pebbles which she got at the class session earlier.

Cherub got the pebbles in its/his and, within seconds, the pebbles started glowing. After a few minutes, the once coal-black pebbles turned into gleaming white shards of diamonds.

Cherub handed over the now shards of diamonds back to Louise who is currently wide-eyed at the moment.

After a few minutes, Louise regained her composure and smiled.

"Alright Cherub", Louise said, "We're going to get it tomorrow."

Suddenly, the smile in Louise's face was replaced with that of a red one.

"Oh I forgot!", Louise said, "The princess is coming today! I must hurry up!"

"Does this princess really an important person in any case?", Cherub asked.

"Of course!", Louise yelled, "She is the ruler of Tristain. Cherub come with me. We need to be at the grounds to greet the Princess."

Cherub immediately followed suit.

Louise and Cherub didn't take long to get at the Academy grounds. When they got there, almost every single student in the Academy is lined up along the way where the Princess' entourage will arrive. From the crowd, Louise saw several figures like Kirche, Tabitha and even Guiche and Montmorency. The Academy's teachers are all present and are ready to greet the princess when she arrives.

Fortunately, the Princess' entourage hasn't arrived yet giving Louise time to prepare. Louise pushed her way into the crowd of students to get a clear view of the scene. Cherub followed her closely.

Several minutes later, knights mounted in armored horses became visible on the horizon followed by a splendid-looking carriage being pulled by horses with a single horn on top of their heads which Cherub easily identified as unicorns and more knights behind the carriage similar to the ones at the front. This is the princess' entourage and it has finally arrived in the Academy.

The entourage went inside the Academy grounds and the students cheered as the princess' carriage passed them. The carriage and its knight escorts stopped just a distance away from the Academy teachers who are simply waiting for the princess to get out of her carriage.

The carriage door opened a few moments later and out came a middle-aged man in priest-like clothing. The man is Cardinal Mazarin. The students, of course, were disappointed by this.

"Geez, it's just the cardinal", a male student said, "I hoped we can get to see the princess. This is just a waste of time."

The teachers then ordered the students to keep quiet to show some respect to the princess. Cardinal Mazarin, on the other hand, heard the ranting of the students but he ignored it. He then turned at the carriage's door extending his hand.

"Princess please come out", cardinal Mazarin said.

Just then, a female's hand suddenly grabbed the cardinal's hand and out came a girl about 18 years of age, dressed in an elegant purple dress fit for a monarch and holding a scepter on her other hand.

When the girl came out of the carriage, the ranting of the students was replaced with that of a joyous cheering. Cherub noticed that even Louise seems to have her entire attention affixed on the princess.

"It's princess Henrietta!", a female student said.

"She's definitely the flower of Tristain!", Guiche exclaimed.

Suddenly, Guiche felt somebody pricked him real hard.

"O-Owww!", Guiche yelled in pain.

"Be quiet you perverted idiot!", Montmorency said.

"So she's the princess of Tristain?", Kirche said, "I'm more beautiful that her right darling?"

Kirche was referring to Cherub who was not immediately able to reply as Guiche immediately interjected.

"How dare you say that?!", Guiche shot back only to be pricked by Montmorency harder.

The students cheered in unison as the princess along with the cardinal and several knights approached the Academy teachers who proceeded to bow when the princess was just in front of them.

"It is an honor to us for you to be here Your Highness", Headmaster Osmond said while he and the other teachers including Professor Colbert and Ms. Longueville remained kneeling.

"I should apologize Headmaster", Princess Henrietta spoke, "Because I announced that I will be visiting here so suddenly. Besides, I have my own reasons for visiting here. I believe we should talk about it inside."

Princess Henrietta, along with Cardinal Mazarin and some of her guards, went with Headmaster Osmond inside the building and proceeded to the Headmaster's office.

Once the event is finished, the teachers who haven't accompanied Headmaster Osmond proceeded to disperse the students who started to go away when the princess is completely out of sight.

Louise did go away as well with Cherub in tow followed while Kirche, Tabitha, Guiche and Montmorency go their own ways.

"Is the purple-haired human being escorted earlier the princess?", Cherub asked to clarify.

Louise turned around and replied.

"Yes", Louise said, "And I want you to impress her as much as you can with your abilities. You got that?"

"Understood", Cherub answered.

"Good, I want to see you changing large boulders of rocks into precious gems like diamonds", Louise said.

Cherub nodded as it/he and Louise walk away.

Meanwhile at the Headmaster's room, Headmaster Osmond along with Princess Henrietta and some of her escort guards along with Cardinal Mazarin are inside with the headmaster and the princess having a conversation. Two of the princess escort guards are outside and currently guarding the door implying that somebody important is in.

"What brings you here to watch an event like the second years' Familiar Exhibition Your Highness?", Old Osmond asked.

"I wanted to see a close friend of mine", Henrietta replied, "And I believe that she summoned a rather powerful and interesting familiar."

Old Osmond touched his long white moustache before replying.

"I see", Old Osmond said, "Ms. Valliere's Familiar is truly an interesting one. It shows abilities far beyond anyone's imagination. I wonder how Ms. Valliere summoned such a being of great might."

Henrietta smiled before replying.

"That will be revealed in time", Henrietta said, "About another important matter, I believe it has something to do with Albion."

Headmaster Osmond's face now turned slightly serious.

"I believe it has something to do with the brewing unrest there by a group known as Reconquista", Old Osmond said.

"Yes it is", Henrietta confirmed.

"Very well then, let us get to the more important matters for now", Old Osmond replied.

The guards accompanying Princess Henrietta left and only the Headmaster, the Princess, and the Cardinal are left inside. Once the door is shut close, the three started conversing on a very important matter.

Meanwhile at the outside of the room of the Academy's laboratory, Cherub is walking towards it after it/he managed to secure Louise's approval. When Cherub left, Louise is extremely happy and confident as her familiar now has a trick ready to pull off tomorrow. Currently, it/he is carrying two thick mid-sized slabs of steel with it/him which is impossible to carry for its/his size as a human. Considering that Cherub is not a human, weight restrictions is not a problem for it him. Derflinger is also with it/him who is also asking what they are going to do. As it/he is walking towards the laboratory's door, it/he spotted Professor Colbert and called out his attention.

"Professor Colbert", Cherub said.

Colbert then turned to Cherub's direction and saw Cherub holding two thick sheets of steel: one is black-colored steel while the other is gleaming gray.

"What can I do for you?", Colbert asked.

"May I use some of the laboratory's apparatus in preparation for the Familiar Exhibition tomorrow?", Cherub asked.

Colbert thought for a moment before replying.

"No one is currently using the laboratory at the moment so I'll let you use it", Colbert answered.

"Understood", Cherub replied.

"But can I see what are you going to do?", Colbert asked.

"I will create a useful tool from the world I came from for the exhibition tomorrow", Cherub answered.

"A tool from your world?!", Colbert exclaimed, "Very well, I'm more than eager to help."

Colbert and Cherub then went into the laboratory to start working on Cherub's 'useful tool'.

Inside the laboratory, Cherub is busy melting the black-colored metal and melding it to a rather familiar figure. Colbert, on the other hand, is somewhat amazed that a golem can do such a task with a high-degree of efficiency. What's more is that Cherub is holding the lump of partially molten metal while it is still hot and burning. However, this intense heat is not a problem for Cherub as it/he is constructed by the Controller to be completely indestructible. As how to put it, it/he is the Controller's masterpiece.

Cherub finished melding the first lump of metal that appears to be a part of something. It/he then started to meld another lump of metal and another then another until all the melded pieces has been created. After the pieces have been made, Cherub started melding the other slab of metal, the yellow-looking one, into small cylinders and it/he managed to make a total of an estimated 400 of the cylinders all in all.

After all the pieces have been made, Cherub pieced all the parts together except the small cylinders until it finally became something that Colbert knew but, at the same time, strange. The thing is colored in black and has the basic proportions of a hand musket but his instincts tell him that this is superior to even the ones being possessed by the Royal Guards.

"Cherub is that a hand musket?", Colbert asked.

"No", Cherub replied, "This is a weapon called a Handgun and is geared towards personal self-defense."

"A weapon for personal self-defense?", Colbert asked, "What is that?"

"This is a weapon focused more on ensuring the survival of its wielder that in an assault role", Cherub stated, "Its short-barrel allows its wielder to fight in close quarters more efficiently as opposed to bulky weaponry like spears and long swords."

"I see", Colbert stated, "Can you create another one for me so I can study it?",

"Understood", Cherub replied.

Shortly after finishing its/his first handgun, Cherub the made another one for Colbert. The entire process took three hours but Colbert never noticed the time having gone too fast. The sun is already setting down when the entire crafting process is finished. Cherub and Colbert then head down the courtyard which is fairly empty at the moment. Only a small number of students are left in the area.

From Cherub's suggestion, Colbert ordered a servant who happened to be in the area to gather used up cans which they will use in a test for the handguns. When the servant gave the empty cans, Colbert ordered the servant to arrange it about forty yards away from them. As soon as the servant is done, Colbert dismissed the servant.

The small number of students in the area got curious on what the two are doing so they all opted to watch whatever is about to happen.

"Professor Colbert", Cherubs said as he aimed its/his gun at one of the empty tin cans, "This is how this weapon works."

Within a second, Cherub clicked the trigger and a BANG rang out of the entire court. The BANG is just loud enough for everyone to hear within the court but not for the entire Academy. Due to Cherub's advanced targeting system that guarantees a 100% target hit most of the time, the bullet hit the spot and the tin can was blasted away with a large hole on it. Cherub repeated the process until 7 cans have been blasted away including the first one while spent casings litter around it/him. It/he then unloaded its/his hand gun to which a rectangular tube slid out and it/he loaded a new one.

"Professor Colbert that is how this weapon works", Cherub stated.

Colbert stared at Cherub for a few moments then at the handgun that Cherub gave him and back at Cherub. It was quite unbelievable. A musket that's just roughly the same size as a hand musket packs a stopping power that can rival a canon shot if the bullet just happened to be larger. The interesting part, however, is that it's just a weapon focusing more on the wielder's defense than on the attack which means that weapons from Cherub's world geared towards attacking are much more deadlier. He has been a well-known soldier in the past known as the "Flame Snake" and he knows how potent this new weapon is which is far greater than what he encountered and used in the past. Though he shuns war and killing due to a certain tragedy in the past which is the result of what he considers his own mistake, this is hard to ignore as this is definitely a sign of advancement which he is a pioneer of. This could even surpass magic on the field of battle if enhanced thoroughly… and this is not in any ways magic.

"I-Incredible", this was just all the Colbert stated.

"Professor Colbert", Cherub said, "I must take my leave now. Master Louise is likely waiting for me back at her room."

"I understand", Colbert replied.

Cherub holstered the handgun beside him much to Derflinger's chagrin as he is no longer the sole weapon of Cherub although he's still happy as the handgun isn't a sentient one like him and left the area leaving behind an amazed Colbert and a small group of students digesting what has just happened. It/he managed to reach the building that Louise's room is in. However, just as it/he was about to approach the door of Louise's room, it/he detected a figure wearing a cloak that conceals every part of the body. The unidentified figure in question is not registered within its/his databanks and the person's heat signature doesn't match with anyone within the Academy. However, scans do reveal that the person in question is a girl. The scans also did not show that the unidentified person is armed with any weaponry. In light with this consideration and the fact that the Academy is a civilian area, Cherub approached the unidentified figure from behind carefully although it/he is prepared to grab the person by the neck and twist it should she do anything hostile.

"Who are you?", Cherub asked as it/he grabbed the figure's left shoulder from behind.

The cloaked figure was startled but she can't turn around as Cherub got her in a solid grip on her left shoulder.

Just as the cloaked figure is about to answer, the door of Louise's room suddenly opened revealing Louise. When she saw Cherub holding the cloaked figure from behind, she was taken by surprise and immediately asked Cherub who is the cloaked figure.

"Cherub who is that?", Louise asked.

"I do not know", Cherub replied, "I found her heading straight towards your room. She is not armed with any sort of weapon except that she also carries a wand with her like other mages in the Academy including you Master."

The cloaked figure has her attention on Louise although she was shocked with what Cherub said. She immediately spoke.

"H-How did you know about that?", the cloaked figure said in a tone that Louise knows all too well.

"Wait…", Louise said as she looked around, "Cherub, get her inside my room now!"

Cherub immediately complied taking the cloaked figure with it/him inside Louise room and Louise closed the door when the three of them are all inside.

"It's been a long time Louise", the cloaked figure said as she toppled down the hood of her cloak revealing herself to be Princess Henrietta.

"P-Princess, what are you doing here?!", Louise said in a shocked tone.

"I have come here to watch the Familiar Exhibition", Henrietta said, "I heard that you summoned a really interesting familiar so I came to see your familiar in action for myself. By the way, where is your familiar? I heard your familiar is an impressive golem made out of fine metal but I haven't spotted one all around the Academy earlier.

"Princess…", Louise said in an embarrassed tone, "My familiar is with us at the moment. He's the one that grabbed you just recently."

Henrietta turned to the young man that apprehended her recently and noticed that something is different about him due to his glowing gold-colored eyes. Of course, she is puzzled as she knew for certain that Louise's familiar is a golem not a human… though she feels something odd about the young man in front of her.

"Actually, your Highness", Louise said, "My familiar has the ability to turn into its human form. He's actually an eight-meter tall golem and you will see him in action tomorrow."

"I see", Henrietta said, "By the way, I heard that a golem attacked Guiche de Gramont in a duel a few days ago. Is that golem your familiar?"

"Yes Your Highness", Louise said, "My familiar is capable of acting on its own when I'm not around which makes it capable of holding its own."

Louise said it proudly to which Henrietta was surprised to hear.

"I never expected a familiar to go like that", Henrietta said.

Cherub then interrupted and asked the Louise.

"Master, what is your relationship with the Princess", Cherub asked.

"Princess Henrietta is my childhood friend when we were still kids", Louise said happily, "And we have known each other for a lifetime."

"Understood", Cherub replied.

Henrietta then noticed another odd feature about Cherub which is its/his robotic voice. True, it/he looks human yet its/his voice isn't. It was really quite puzzling yet interesting at the same time. Suddenly, she remembered about going back as her visit to Louise is just a secret.

"Louise, I'll need to go now", Henrietta said, "My escort guards do not know that I came here in secret so I need to get back before they knew that I'm gone."

"I understand Your Highness", Louise said.

Suddenly, Cherub interrupted.

"Master, I am currently detecting heat signatures around us within an 80 meter radius", Cherub replied, "Based on their movement patterns, it is safe to assume that they are the Princess' Royal Guards and their likely objective is to find the Princess."

Henrietta was shocked to hear it and proceeded to ask.

"How do you know that?", Henrietta asked in surprise.

"I can detect various life forms ad objects within a maximum of twenty kilometer radius around me", Cherub stated.

This surprised Henrietta greatly though the next few words that Cherub spoke really got her interested fully.

"In order to get around the Princess' escort guards without being detected, I can volunteer to sneak her back towards her quarters by using my invisibility function" Cherub said.

"Y-You can turn invisible?!", Henrietta said in surprise, "Are you a mage?"

Louise, knowing full well of Cherub's abilities along with a few others, sighed before she spoke.

"Yes Your Highness", Louise said, "My familiar possess many abilities that even a square-class mage golem doesn't have. He is not a mage but a rather special golem. I'm also surprised to hear his abilities."

"I see", Henrietta said, "I look forward to seeing you familiar in action tomorrow."

Henrietta left with Cherub as her escort and just as the door closes Louise saw clearly Cherub and Henrietta disappeared right out of thin air. However, due to this, Cherub was able to return Henrietta to her quarters in short order and proceeded to get back towards Louise's room after a several minutes.

The next day, the entire Academy has been prepared for the Familiar Exhibition and it looks like a celebration of sorts as well. The Familiar Exhibition can be also said as an opportunity for many students as most of the Princess entourage is also watching, Cardinal Mazarin among them, and they would be in the road to fame and success if they managed to impress either the Princess or the Cardinal. They might even earn a Chevalier status if they managed to succeed in their endeavor. The prospect of having a high position in the Royal Palace once they reached age is also a great one.

Students have their familiars perform various tricks though those that have 'regular' familiars like dogs, cats, mice, and eagles are just doing what can be considered 'menial ones' due to the simplicity of those tasks. Those that have impressive familiars like dragons, salamanders, bug bears and other large creatures are getting attention.

Tabitha with her dragon Sylphid is doing some fancy air maneuvers all the while Sylphid is shattering shards of ice which were created by Tabitha. Kirche, on the other hand, is having Flame dance while breathing out a stream of flame out of its mouth. Guiche and his mole familiar Verdandi are doing a rather funny scene at the Exhibition. Verdandi is currently balancing Guiche in a rather unusual fashion: Guiche is in a lay-low position while Verdandi is balancing Guiche with just its nose and head alone. Some of the princess' entourage is amused by what Guiche pulled off.

On the sidelines, Cardinal Mazarin sighed as another student finished performing a trick. He had seen many Familiar Exhibitions in the past and they were just all the same being less entertaining with each succeeding one despite those Familiar Exhibitions containing impressive creatures like dragons, manticores, and griffins. However, he noticed that Princess Henrietta seems very excited and she seems to be waiting for somebody to perform.

"Your Highness, are you waiting for somebody to perform?", Mazarin asked.

"Yes Cardinal", Henrietta replied, "And I believe this visit will be worth it once we see it for ourselves."

As the last student finish making an talent exhibit with his familiar, the speaker announced the next student loud and clear.

"The next student… Ms. Francoise Le Blanc de La Valliere!", the speaker announced.

"Very well Cardinal, the show is about to begin", Henrietta said to which Mazarin was puzzled about.

Just as Louise entered the scene, an eight-meter golem made of steel with what looks like wings on its back entered the scene which caught everyone's attention including Mazarin. Mazarin was quite surprised to see the steel golem in front of him. Never in his life did he saw such a golem. The golem in question is of an unusual high quality that will make the golems of many square-class mages to look like just lumps of mud in comparison with this. Even Headmaster Osmond and Professor Colbert are impressed. Professor Chevreuse, being an Earth mage, is completely interested in the steel golem in front of them.

Louise ordered Cherub to turn the large boulders of rock that were placed earlier by servants ordered by Louise for Cherub's trick. Anyone didn't know what the boulders are for but Louise just said that it will be used for her familiar's tricks.

Once Cherub was on scene, it/he then extended its/his hand until it is fully stretched out. Suddenly, all of the boulders of rock started glowing for a few minutes and after that… the once black and grey boulders of rock now became crystals in an assorted color. The crystals are in various colors like white, red, and green and they are all sparkling. The crowd was taken by the event but the next thing that Cherub really surprised them.

Cherub grabbed several of the gems and tossed them into the air… with an unbelievable force. As the gems speed up towards the sky, Cherub boosted upwards that let it/him fly. Of course, this shocked everyone as they never expected to see a golem to fly. Henrietta along with everyone including her own entourage escort where some of them are mage knights looked up and saw Cherub stop mid-air. Once up in the sky, Cherub's 'wings' suddenly pointed upwards and… out of those wings came out rays of green light.

At Cherub, it/he reduced the intensity of its/his two MWC-LQ/25-14s and modified the beams' property to prevent them from bouncing off the gems as they are rays of light to pierce the gems and give out the necessary result.

Back on the ground, everyone watched as Cherub fired eight salvos of green lights upwards and in the next couple of minutes, specks of sparkling dust suddenly rained down from the sky. It was quite a strange yet fascinating sight. First, they saw a metal golem came out of the exhibition and said golem turned the once-large boulders of rocks into gems as large as the rock boulders. Then the same golem flew up and fired what seems to be beams of light upwards where the gems are tossed at and specks of dust which where the once gems started to fall down from the sky like snow.

A member of the Princess' entourage went towards a red colored gem which was lying next to other brightly colored gems that were not thrown up by Cherub and took off his gloves to see if the gem is really a ruby. After a few moments of touching, the royal guard then wore his gloves back and spoke.

"This is a real ruby!", the Royal Guard said.

The crowd heard the guard's words and was surprised by what they heard. If the red colored gem is a real ruby, then the other brightly colored gems are also real. The green gems are emerald, the white gems are diamonds, and others being authentic valuable gems which can be sold at a ridiculously high price given their size a piece.

A bunch of students then started to run towards a gem and tried to cast a levitation spell on it. However, given the gem's weight which is equal to the large rock boulder they were turned from, the students got easily tired as the willpower needed to lift up even one boulder-sized gem is really high for them.

Meanwhile, Cherub is starting to descend slowly as the crowd watched on with a complete sign of amazement and shock in their faces. What the steel golem in front of them was way out of character for a golem. When Cherub touched down on the ground, it/he just stood there awaiting further orders from Louise who is just grinning in satisfaction. The crowd just kept themselves quite. The Princess was completely amazed by what she saw. Mazarin, on the other hand, was completely taken by the scene. This is the first Familiar Exhibition that caught his attention. What he is currently seeing right now is not a golem but, as how he will put it, an angel made of steel. The golem is gleaming like polished sword and its majestic appearance further adds to its appeal. Was this golem some sort of divine being? Mazarin thought.

Just as everyone is thinking about what Cherub just pulled off, a loud crash rang out within the Academy. What everyone saw in the area was a towering golem and is currently bashing the walls where the Academy's treasure vault is located.

"It's Fouquet of the Crumbling Dirt!", a servant yelled as he started to run in panic.

The entire crowd watching the Familiar Exhibition then started to flee in panic. Pandemonium soon broke down and everyone started to run in any direction. The guards being led by Mazarin evacuated Princess Henrietta away from the area. As they were fleeing, they saw the metal golem suddenly sped past them at a high speed which made the wide-eyed. First the golem can fly now it can move this fast. They also saw Louise hurriedly running while yelling at her familiar for running at danger's way.

"Cherub wait for me!", Louise yelled as she struggled to run.

At Cherub, it/he is currently boosting towards where the intruder is located at. It/he materialized its/his MWG-KARASAWA/REVILE and MWG-MGE/1000 on its/his left and right hands respectively with the intent of eliminating the hostile intruder given its actions. It didn't take Cherub too long to reach the area where the intruder is.

When it/he reached the area, it/he immediately saw the intruder: a large towering golem made of earth currently pounding at the Academy's walls where the treasure vault is located. Cherub zeroed on its/his target and approached on high speeds with both guns read to fire at the target.

The attacking earth golem heard a noise behind it and turned around only to be greeted by bolts of an MWG-KARASAWA/REVILE laser rifle and MWG-MGE/1000 machine gun both of which exploded on impact. The earth golem was completely shaken with lots of earth falling off it indicating that the attack was very effective.

As Cherub analyzed the result of its/his initial attack, it/he can detect a human heat signature on the golem's shoulder. It/he then zoomed its/his view only to see a human cloaked in dark green cloak with a hood. Scans showed that the figure is a female and that she is currently armed with a wand as well as being in control of the golem as well. Cherub analyzed the situation. From the looks of it, the figure controlling the golem seems to be trying to steal something as the part of the wall that the golem is smashing is situated right next to the treasure vault. Clearly, this is a robbery and should be stopped.

Cherub then boosted upwards and started to rain down energy bolts of death with its/his weapons right at the attacking golem though he ensured not to hit the structure the golem is attacking to prevent collateral damage. The crowd who happened to be in the area stared in awe at the feat that Cherub is doing, clearly, Cherub is going full force against the golem yet it/he is doing it with perfect accuracy preventing damage on the walls. Louise arrived and she only stared in awe like the others who also saw what is currently happening. Even Guiche was here together with Montmorency. Guiche paled at the sight. If Cherub had used full force on him on their duel a few days ago, then… he didn't like to hear it. Tabitha and Kirche also arrived on the scene and have the same reaction as the others. Clearly, Cherub is pawning the attacking golem with complete impunity and they simply waited for the golem to get completely destroyed.

"Looks like Fouquet will be the one crumbling this time huh?", Kirche commented.

Tabitha just gazed the scene with complete interest as the rays of death slammed into the attacking golem.

Meanwhile, the cloaked figure atop the golem's shoulder is now completely angry due to the intense barrage of death rays her golem is currently receiving. If this keeps up, her golem will fall down. As she has no means of retaliating due to the fact that the steel golem is up in the air several feet up, she opted to use every ounce of willpower she had to breach the walls which succeeded, perhaps out of good luck.

The cloaked figure then immediately ran inside, grabbed a rectangular box and returned to her golem. As soon as she is on top of her golem, she made it immediately crumble releasing dust as it crumbled down. Everyone in the area started to flee to evade the dust. Cherub, on the other hand, immediately aimed both of its/his MWC-LQ/25-14s at the crumbling golem whose master is obviously using the diversion to escape and fired it all at full capacity. Twenty eight rays of death then pierced the ground and a resounding explosion erupted. This resulted in some of the dust being cleared out in the process. After the death ray barrage, the only things left in the area is a blasted open wall, a large lump of earth that happened to be the golem of the thief Fouquet, several blots on the ground due to Cherub's multi-laser cannons and a crowd of people.

Several teachers arrived soon after and learned what happened. Hey are quite relieved due to the fact that Cherub was able to prevent heavy casualties and minimizing collateral damage from happening by quickly destroying the thief's golem although they are still distressed that one of the artifacts within the treasure vault got stolen.

At Louise, she is currently staring Cherub after what happened. Considering what happened earlier and now, Cherub really cemented its/his status as an impressive familiar. Louise now didn't care if she was not able to join her familiar in fighting Fouquet and said thief succeeded in stealing something. The only thing she now thinks of is to become worthy of being a master to a powerful familiar.

"_I will truly become your master Cherub, just wait for me"_, Louise thought to herself.

_-CHAPTER 10 END-_

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**PS: The handgun that Cherub made is a Desert Eagle with a modification that allows it to be chambered for the .500 S&W Magnum. This Desert Eagle can be loaded with 7 bullets at a time before reloading. Considering that Armored Core 3 happens in the near/distant future coupled by the fact that the Desert Eagle is designed somewhere during the 1970s (in RL), this gun will be easy to create for Cherub especially given its/his advanced AI. This certain handgun will prove its use later on.**

**Also next chapter, the hunt for Fouquet begins… stay tuned.**


	11. Chapter 11: Operation Retrieval

**Author's notes: This is chapter 11 guys. For those who asked why Cherub didn't kill Fouquet last chapter, it will be explained here.**

**Without further ado, here's chapter 11!**

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**==========Chapter 11: Operation Retrieval==========**

The events following Fouquet's escape from the Academy after he managed to steal an artifact were both up and down at the same time. It was up because of the fact that Fouquet was not able to ransack the Academy's Treasure vault as much as he wanted which is thanks to Louise's familiar Cherub dealing with him in a rather impressive fight. It was also down as the artifact that Fouquet has stolen is the feared Staff of Destruction that is said to bring forth swift destruction to anything it was pointed at, hence the name.

Even despite this loss, this standoff fight gave Louise and the others the chance to see Cherub's prowess in fighting. Clearly, Cherub's fighting skill is topnotch since it/he easily took out Fouquet's golem in just a few minutes of battle. Combined with its/his rock-steady aim, Cherub's fighting skill is too high that even the Princess' Royal Guards, the Mage Knights in particular, will look like just a bunch of conscripts that were just recently hired. The steel golem that was Louise's familiar easily took out the thief's golem which will take the entire Royal Guard one hell of a fight just to bring it down. It was a complete embarrassment for the Royal Guard given that they were outdone by a golem too easily and, to make matters worse, in front of the Princess. All they did is run away like cowards but that is due to protect the Princess in the event that Fouquet targeted the crown ruler of Tristain.

Currently, the Academy grounds are littered by several blots of craters on the ground and the wall that used to cover the treasure vault is torn open. Earth mages from the Academy are doing their effort in repairing the ground and even the Mage Knights who stopped retreating after confirming that Fouquet is gone are helping as well. The entire endeavor is an easy one since Cherub was able to eliminate the thief's golem with minimal collateral damages. This is quite unexpected to say the least. Battles between mages are always considered to be destructive given the power of magic however… what just happened knocked it all off the table. Aside from putting an impressive fight performance against the thief, no one can make a clear picture of what just happened. First, it was a golem that looks good for a show. Now, it just did the task that will take the best mages of Tristain a lot of time and effort with an unnatural efficiency and without their help.

At the court where the Familiar Exhibition is held, the field is still littered with boulder-sized gems which were the result of Cherub turning these rock boulders into huge valuable gems. The gems are big, big enough to squish an average to small-sized human if they rolled over them. Every single mage in the Academy are doing their best efforts to levitate the boulders of valuable gems into 'safe' areas. Even the Mage Knights are helping as well. Considering that it takes more willpower to levitate bigger objects, the gems are very difficult to move.

One of the students looked at a green-colored gem up close and touched it. What the student felt was the unusual high clarity of the giant emerald asserting its impressively high value. He is currently up close to it and the emerald is too large that he will be flattened by it if it rolls over him. It is even casting a dim reflection of him as well.

From the sidelines, Kirche and Tabitha are watching the scenery with interest. Of the two, Kirche was more interested since she is staring at a field littered with big boulders of various valuable gems which is an impossible sight in itself. In fact, it looks like the rainbow but on the ground.

"Darling is really interesting isn't he?", Kirche asked Tabitha as they both looked at the oversized gems littering the area.

Tabitha just gave a nod to which Kirche easily understood.

While the Familiar Exhibition was cancelled due to Fouquet's attack, it did nothing to stop Cherub from becoming more popular all over the Academy. Shortly after Cherub dispatched Fouquet's golem, many of the Academy's teachers, staff, and students became impressed about it/him. For the Academy's teachers, Cherub is an impressive and one of a kind familiar since it/he did various things that even impressive familiars like the legendary rhyme dragons will not be able to do ever since it/he was summoned by Louise. For the Academy's staff, the commoners in the Academy to be exact, they didn't see Cherub like any other familiar and treated it/him with respect fit for a human. Ever since Siesta told them of what happened to her, she being 'taken' by Count Mott and being rescued by Cherub, they started to feel comfortable around it/him and no longer scared which was the result of its/his duel with Guiche a few days ago. What's more, it was confirmed by some Academy servants that the steel golem didn't fired its 'musket' and 'wings' of death when it sensed that they will be caught in the ensuing crossfire when it was battling the attacking golem. And as for the students, especially the female ones, they were still in awe over what has just transpired. They can't believe it. It was beyond the realm of reality if they must say. They are starting to have doubts if the familiars that they have summoned are more than worth it in comparison to the once-Zero's familiar.

At the area where the mages are busy fixing things up because of Fouquet's dirty work, Cherub is watching them do their job in its/his human form. Although its/his human form really makes it/him look human, it/he is still easy to tell apart from a real human due to its/his glowing golden eyes and, as for girls, he looks too handsome to be a human. Apparently, it/he volunteered to help but the mages, especially the Academy professors, just told him to rest for the time being though he doesn't know why they said it. Perhaps, it's because of the artifacts that are inside the vault.

As Cherub is watching the repairs being conducted, Louise came up to him.

"Cherub, the headmaster wants to talk with us", Louise said.

"Understood", Cherub replied as it/he followed Louise.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the Academy…

Ms. Longueville is walking in an isolated part of one of the Academy's corridor. Currently, she is extremely angry as, since she is actually Fouquet, her plan didn't go smoothly even though she managed to steal the Staff of Destruction. It was all thanks to the young Valliere's steel golem familiar. True, she knew that the steel golem was strong but she never expected that it is this ridiculously powerful in addition to being smart as well.

She was completely trashed back then and she would have been fried to death by the steel golem familiar's rays of death if she hadn't acted quickly. That steel golem's suite of weaponry is too scary as well. Just what kind of mage can make a golem as powerful as this?

Either way, she did manage to successfully steal the Staff of Destruction though she doesn't know how to use it exactly. Shortly after she escaped as Fouquet and outside the Academy's range, she immediately opened the box containing the revered artifact and inspected it. She tried to use it the same way she uses wands but the artifact doesn't return any foci like other wands. Furthermore, it is also big and cumbersome not to mention that it appears to be made of several parts pieced together. All in all, the Staff of Destruction is a big cylindrical staff of sorts and she is wondering how it can do such destruction since it doesn't react to magic at all.

Regardless, Ms. Lonqueville, or Fouquet to be exact, doesn't have to think about it for the time being. Right now, she needs to be seen by the headmaster quickly to avoid being suspected. Besides, she now has an idea of hitting two birds with one stone.

Ms. Longueville was able to reach the headmaster's office just in time to see the headmaster, Professor Colbert, and some students.

"Ah Ms. Longueville good timing", Headmaster Osmond said, "I'm happy that you are not injured by Fouquet's attack earlier."

"I'm lucky that I'm also at the court earlier headmaster", Ms. Longueville replied.

"Anyways, this meeting is about to capture Fouquet and retrieve the Staff of Destruction", Osmond said.

"Retrieve? Can we just ask the Royal Guards to do this job?", Professor Colbert asked.

"If we do that, we'll end up damaging the Academy's reputation", Osmond replied, "This mess happened in our area of responsibility so we should be the ones to correct this mistake."

"But why are we the ones that are here?", Guiche asked as he along with Montmorency, Louise, Kirche, and Tabitha nodded in agreement. Cherub is also in the room though it/he isn't responding as of yet.

"You are the second year students that saw Fouquet among others", Osmond replied, "So I assume you can easily recognize him when you encounter him again."

"Him?", Cherub asked finally saying a word.

Everyone looked at Cherub with a puzzled look including Ms. Longueville.

"What do you mean Cherub?", Louise asked.

"When I was fighting Fouquet, I scanned the target in question using thermal scanning and the target turned out to be having the body proportions fit for a female. Also from the scans I believe she is within the 20-year old to 25 year old age range", Cherub explained.

"WHAT?!", Everyone exclaimed.

Ms. Longueville slightly stepped aback by what just Cherub said. How can this golem do that? Shivers went down her spine as she thought of the implications. As she is having a little mental dilemma, headmaster Osmond suddenly yanked up from his chair due to Cherub's statement which caused her to regain her focus.

"If she is a female", Osmond said, "Can you tell me her specific three sizes?"

This made Ms. Longueville's eyebrows to twitch which made her kick Osmond right in the groin where the old man's 'private part' is located.

"O-Owwww!", Osmond groaned in pain after being his 'private part' as hit.

"Headmaster!", Colbert yelled.

"Headmaster, don't bring in malicious topics in the middle of a serious matter!", Ms. Longueville shouted.

"Hey, since you figured out that Fouquet is a woman, is there any chance that you know who she is?", Guiche asked.

This made Ms. Longueville's alarm meter to go up higher and nervously waited in her mind what the steel golem is about to say.

"Negative", Cherub replied, "I am not able to fully record every single human's heat signature in this Academy as I am always with my master. Therefore, the identification of Fouquet's heat signature is unknown at the moment."

Ms. Longueville sighed in relief down in her mind. She is at least safe… for now. Louise, on the other hand, just looked down on realizing the reason.

"I understand", Osmond said, "Anyways, who among you will volunteer to search for Fouquet?"

There was a pause in the room as everyone went silent. Obviously, despite Cherub making Fouquet make a run for her money, the thief is still a powerful opponent by mage standards. However, the silence was broken when Louise finally spoke.

"I volunteer to catch Fouquet", Louise declared.

Everyone looked at her and Kirche spoke a few moments after it.

"I'm also volunteering to catch Fouquet", Kirche replied, "If Louise joins in, I'm in it as well."

Guiche suddenly spoke under one of his bravado facades again.

"Since I'm a son of a noble family focused on military affairs, I'm also joining in", Guiche said.

"W-What?!", Montmorency spluttered, "Then I'm going in as well!"

Tabitha just nodded implying that she will also join in.

Osmond looked at Cherub who hasn't moved yet after it/he declared something surprising and asked.

"Cherub, why didn't you killed Fouquet when you got the chance to attack her?", Osmond asked.

Ms. Longueville tensed at Osmond's question although she became curious about it anyway.

"I was not able to get a clear shot at her when I first reached her", Cherub answered, "Furthermore, when the moment came that I did managed to get a clear shot at her, she is already holding the alleged stolen artifact and I can't hit her with my weapons as they all have explosive properties and I believe the artifact may end up getting destroyed in the process which will yield a high collateral damage result."

"I see", Osmond said, "You really are smart."

"Anyway, Ms. Longueville will guide you to the area where Fouquet was last spotted", Colbert then said, "And this is a sketch based on the villagers that saw her."

Colbert then rolled out a roll of paper and on it is a drawing of a hooded person which made it impossible to discern the figure. However, the sketch does fit the bill.

"So that is Fouquet", Ms. Longueville stated.

"Correct, Ms. Longueville", Colbert said, "The villagers who described… her to be looking like this said that she is in a nearby forest and is probably busy tinkering with the artifact as we speak."

"Shall we go now?", Ms. Longueville asked.

All of the students nodded and Ms. Longueville went out of the room with the students in tow.

An hour later, the group consisting of Louise, Kirche, Tabitha, Montmorency, Guiche, Ms. Longueville, and Cherub are on their way to the alleged location where Fouquet was last seen. However, Tabitha is up in the sky riding Sylphid while Cherub is also in the air flying in its/his original form as well. The rest, including Louise, are in the carriage that Ms. Longueville is driving.

As the group is nearing the target area, Kirche talked with Ms. Longueville about something.

"Ms. Longueville, I heard that you were once a noble", Kirche said, "How did you lost it?"

"Zerbst, it's not polite to talk to somebody of things like that", Louise interrupted.

Ms. Longueville chuckled before replying.

"Nobles lose their noble titles because of several reasons", Ms. Longueville began, "Some give up their titles to become mercenaries or criminals and some… for various reasons."

"So what is the reason for yours?", Kirche asked.

"It's a long story", Ms. Longueville replied, "Anyways, it's better not to talk about it. It brings me some sad memories."

Kirche quieted down and just sat on her seat on the carriage.

"I wish darling is also with us here", Kirche said referring to the AC hovering up above them and is being accompanied by a blue dragon.

Tabitha is listening to the conversation as well through the use of a wind spell that allows her to listen to voices far away from her although she isn't replying to the conversation. Cherub is also the same but through the use of its/his highly sensitive audio receptors.

The group made it to the target area after several more minutes of driving through the woodlands. When they got there, they saw a shack that is in bad condition and appears to be abandoned. Tabitha and Cherub descended down from the sky with the latter switching to its/his human form and Sylphid on standby.

"The farmers told that Fouquet is hiding there", Ms. Longueville stated as she disembarked from the carriage and pointing at the abandoned-looking shack just a few clicks away from them.

"Cherub do you see anything strange from there?", Louise asked.

Cherub gazed at the abandoned shack and the area surrounding it using its/his long range scanner in conjunction with thermal scanning before speaking.

"Negative", Cherub replied, "I do not see any human heat signature or any signs of traps around the area. However, I did detect a box which has the outline of the same box that Fouquet has stolen."

"W-Wait you can see through things?!", Montmorency asked in shock.

Cherub turned to her and replied.

"Correct", Cherub stated, "The simplest that my scanners can do is to scan objects through body temperature. Human bodies always emit heat which allows me to detect them through this type of scan. Non-living objects do not emit heat so they will only show on my scanner as a blue outline."

"I do not mean that, I mean can you easily see what's beneath our clothes?!", Montmorency asserted.

Every single female tensed on the question while Guiche flushed red.

"Correct", Cherub stated, "Though I haven't used it up to now due to the fact that there is no situation where it is feasible to use. Furthermore, thermal scanning is much more useful since it allows me to pick targets accurately. As of the moment, I do detect a heat signature buried underground and I believe it is Mr. Gramont's mole."

"It's Verdandi!", Guiche exclaimed, "You are still able to see my familiar despite being it being underground?!"

"Correct", Cherub answered, "Detecting organic heat signatures is of no problem to me."

"Partner, just how awesome can you get?!", Derflinger made out his comment who is being held by Louise as Cherub can't use him in its/his original form.

To say that everyone is shocked is an understatement. All of them are blabbering like fishes on the statement. Guiche started to pout out useless comments and he only stopped when Montmorency pricked him hard.

"We don't have a time for that!", Louise finally yelled, "We need to retrieve the Staff of Destruction now!"

Everyone stopped and nodded at Louise's words.

"Then I'll be approaching from the back", Ms. Longueville stated, "You guys come right in from the front while I hit her from behind."

Everyone nodded at Ms. Longueville who then started to get around the shack.

"Okay, let's get this done", Kirche commented.

"Cherub, you go on first", Louise stated.

Cherub complied and it/he went inside with Tabitha and Guiche following it/him closely. Montmorency and Kirche are just outside to act as a lookout. Cherub opened the shack's door but found no one inside. Tabitha and Guiche scoured through the shack to find the stolen artifact. After a few moments, Tabitha did found the box that is holding the artifact and opened it. The stolen artifact is still there although the box holding it seems to have been covered in dust due to the shack's bad condition.

"Found it", Tabitha said as Cherub and Guiche stopped scouring around the shack.

"Very well, let's go out then", Guiche said.

Just as the three are going outside, they heard Louise screamed from outside. The three then rushed outside to see Louise, Kirche, and Montmorency being attacked by a large and towering golem.

"Fouquet!", Guiche shouted as he witness the golem punch the ground that the three girls are standing on. Luckily, they all managed to get out of harm's way and regrouped with Cherub, Tabitha, and Guiche.

"Where's Ms. Longueville?!", Montmorency asked in panic.

"She's not here! What happened to her?!", Louise also said in panic.

"That's not the time to go think about that! Run!", Guiche yelled.

"Tabitha, lift us all up!", Kirche said to Tabitha.

Tabitha whistled prompting Sylphid to dive down and scoop all of them down including Verdandi who was lucky enough to burst out of the ground just a few inches from where Sylpid landed. Louise tossed Derflinger to Cherub who remained on the ground as she went up on Sylphid. So far, half of the mission is complete: the Staff of Destruction has been recovered but Ms. Longueville is not in sight yet.

Cherub easily grabbed Derflinger and began to charge at the golem.

"Partner, why don't you just change at your original form and just blast the hell out of this damn golem?", Derflinger asked.

"If I do that, I will not be able to use you in battle", Cherub explained, "Furthermore, I detected that the soil of the target area has been altered in a way that it will trigger a sink hole if an object with a weight past its threshold level touched it. My original form is too heavy that it will cause the expected sink hole. Furthermore, my weapons can also cause the sink hole even if they hit the golem due to the shock that they will generate on impact."

Derflinger didn't understand what Cherub said but knew that it isn't good especially at the part where it/he won't be able to use him in battle. However, that alone made him agree with Cherub's explanation.

"Then let's charge that golem!", Derflinger stated as Cherub sped towards the golem.

The Gandalfr runes began to lighten up on Cherub's left hand and it/he noticed an increase in speed on its/his movements. However, that didn't matter as Cherub is already fast for the task. It/he then began to hack the golem's right leg and a large chunk of earth began to fall down of it causing it to "yell" in pain. However, that is short-lived as the golem's "severed" right leg began to grow again making Cherub's attack useless.

"We need firepower just enough to blow the golem in one shot", Cherub said.

"Then use that weapon called a handgun partner", Derflinger suggested.

"The Desert Eagle doesn't have the necessary firepower for the task", Cherub replied.

Meanwhile, up in the air…

Louise and everyone aboard Sylphid are watching as Cherub is squaring it out against the golem that is likely from Fouquet.

"Darling's in trouble!", Kirche exclaimed.

Louise, in her decision to help, told Tabitha to cast levitation magic on her and bring her down slowly with it so she can blow the golem down with the Staff of Destruction. The artifact is said to be powerful so taking down the golem using it is a guaranteed success.

"Cherub, I'm coming!", Louise said as she suddenly jumped off Sylphid causing everyone to get shocked although Tabitha managed to catch her and levitate her slowly down on the ground using levitation magic.

As soon as Louise got on the ground, she opened the box and pulled out the revered artifact. Due to her small stature and rather weak limbs thanks to the size of her body, she has to use both of her hands to get a steady grip at it and to prevent it from falling down due to its weight. She then began to swing it back and forth hoping that it will function like any other wands. However, nothing happened. Her constant blabbering caused the golem to switch its attention to her. Even Cherub did take a look on her although it/he was surprised to see what Louise is holding in her hands.

Derflinger, sensing that his partner seem to be gazing at the artifact he asked it/him.

"Do you know what it is?", Derflinger asked.

"That is not a staff", Cherub replied.

Cherub dashed forward to Louise. Since it/he is way faster than the golem, it/he reached Louise even before the golem can make a step towards Louise.

"Master, hand it over to me", Cherub said.

Louise didn't say a word and just complied as she doesn't know how to use it in the first place. She handed the Staff of Destruction to Cherub who inspected it upon receiving it.

"There is no doubt about this weapon", Cherub said as he unpacked the "Staff of Destruction" which is none other than an FIM-92 Stinger into firing mode. Louise was surprised to see the artifact changed into a new appearance.

Cherub aimed the FIM-92 Stinger at the golem and peered at the MANPAD's Fire Control System. It/he then realized that the Stinger is a Reprogrammable Microprocessor Variant due to the way the MANPAD made it target lock on the golem. It just took a few seconds for Cherub to complete the target lock and clicked the trigger.

"Everyone get down!", Cherub "shouted" as it/he fired the MANPAD causing the missile within the FIM-92 Stinger to flew out with a trail of white smoke as it sped straight at the golem.

Everyone was lucky enough to get down as the golem was blown to pieces by the Stinger missile causing chunks of earth to rain down as the golem disintegrated.

Cherub dropped the now-empty FIM-92 Stinger on the ground and immediately dashed towards Louise who was still shocked on what just happened. It/he then grabbed her and sprinted out of the area where the soil is altered by magic. Even the others who are watching the event transpire weren't able to act at all. They just hover there and did nothing.

Cherub signaled them to land down at the area it/he designated to prevent them on landing at a magically-altered soil.

"Darling, you're so cool!", Kirche said as she went straight for Cherub much to Louise's chagrin, "How did you managed to use that powerful artifact?"

"That is not an artifact", Cherub stated, "It is an FIM-92 Stinger Surface-to-Air Missile Launcher. A weapon from where I came from."

"What!", Louise pouted.

"Anyways", Guiche suddenly interrupted, "Where's Ms. Longueville?"

"You're right where is she?", Montmorency followed Guiche's statement.

"Everyone looked around until Tabitha pointed at a direction and they saw Ms. Longueville there.

"Ms. Longueville, were have you been?!", Montmorency asked in a loud voice.

Ms. Longueville didn't say a word and casted a spell which Cherub easily identified as having returned the soil back to its original that, she just made her way casually for the FIM-92 Stinger lying on the ground where Cherub dropped it a few moments ago. She then spoke once the missile launcher was in her hands.

"Thanks for helping me Mr. Familiar", Ms. Longueville stated in a rather strange tone, "I would not be able to figure out how to use this weapon without your help."

"What do you mean?!", Louise asked in annoyance.

Ms. Longueville just took off her glasses and revealed who she is.

"I am Fouquet of the Crumbling Dirt", Ms. Longueville now known as Fouquet said, "Thanks for everything. I was hoping the Academy will send in professors to figure out how to use this weapon but they just sent in students. Oh well, at least I now knew how to use this. Now, good bye."

Fouquet clicked the FIM-92's trigger but nothing happened. She clicked it several more times but nothing still happened.

"What is wrong with this thing?!", Fouquet asked in anger.

Before she can do anything more, several loud gunshots reverberated across the area.

Fouquet found herself wounded by gunshots although those gunshots aren't fatal. Just enough to prevent her from attacking as it only tore her skin and missed her bones. However, it was still painful. Then suddenly, she felt a strong punch sink down her stomach causing her to slump on the ground and pass out due to the strong force applied on it.

Everyone was shocked in what they saw. First, they saw Fouquet standing just a few seconds ago ready to end their lives but now she is slumped on the ground unconscious and badly beaten. And second, they saw Cherub with them but is now beside the now-unconscious Fouquet.

"That is not a Staff of Destruction", Cherub said, "It is a missile launcher with just one missile left."

Cherub picked up the missile launcher and Fouquet before approaching its/his still companions.

"It appears that all mission objectives have been completed", Cherub casually said, "If there are no further tasks, I suggest we head back towards the Academy."

"Yes darling!", Kirche said happily as Louise is still drooling at what just Cherub accomplished today.

"Louise, we're heading back", Montmorency said to Louise causing the latter to regain her focus and went along with the others back at the Academy.

A few hours later, the group made it back at the Academy and they did surprised everyone especially Headmaster Osmond who was disappointed that Ms. Longueville is actually Fouquet. Guess he needs to find another sexy secretary to "play" with.

In the Headmaster's office, everyone was gathered there and is currently having a conversation.

"So the Staff of Destruction is actually a weapon from your world Cherub", Osmond stated.

"Correct, the FIM-92 Stinger is a man portable air defense system weapon used in my world's armed forces several decades ago", Cherub said.

"What!", Colbert exclaimed, "Your world uses this powerful weapon?!"

"Correct and this weapon was mass-produced with several thousand units produced all in all", Cherub asserted.

That shook Colbert. If a weapon as powerful as this is created in large numbers in Cherub's word, then… it doesn't sound good.

"Anyways, you all here are going to receive the Chevalier's award", Osmond stated, "However, since Tabitha is already a Chevalier herself, she will be receiving the Elven Medallion award."

"What! Tabitha's a chevalier already?!", Louise yelled.

The group of students that took out Fouquet are happy that they will be receiving the Chevalier's rank especially for Guiche as he comes from the military-oriented Gramont Family. He now has something to brag about back to his family. In addition, they will be the center of the party that will be held to commemorate the feat that they accomplished. However, everyone was still a bit sad as Cherub will not be getting anything as it/he is just a familiar.

Osmond dismissed all of them although Cherub remained inside due to the fact that he wants to clear several things. When the coast is quiet and the only people inside are it/him, Osmond, and Colbert, Cherub asked.

"Who is the one that owns the FIM-92 Stinger?", Cherub asked.

"So that was the weapon's name", Osmond said, "It was a memento from the man who saved my life 30 years ago."

Cherub looked at Osmond and listened carefully.

"It was 30 years ago when I was out in the forest when a dragon suddenly attacked me and that is where he showed up", Osmond continued, "He was badly wounded when I saw him due to the drips of blood going out of his body as he walked. Ignoring his wounds, he hoisted up the Staff of Destruction, aimed it at the dragon… and he fired it. He managed to kill the dragon with it but he collapsed afterwards. When I inspected him, I noticed that he has two Staff of Destructions with him. I took him back at the Academy along with the two Staff of Destructions and tried to heal him. However, his wounds are too fatal and he died a few days later."

Colbert wiped the sweat forming on his bald head and said "I never expected that the Staff of Destruction has such a history!"

"What happened to the other FIM-92 Stinger?", Cherub asked.

"The one you retrieved from Fouquet is one of the two which is the one I presented to the Palace and the other one which he used to save my life was buried with him at the Academy's crypt", Osmond replied.

"Undertsood", Cherub replied.

"On another important topic", Osmond said, "The runes on your left hand clearly states that you are Gandalfr. That means that Ms. Valliere is a Void mage. Please cooperate with us to ensure your master's safety."

Cherub stared at Colbert and the latter knew what it means.

"It's the truth really", Colbert said as he assured Cherub on his findings.

"Very well then", Osmond said, "If you don't have anything to ask, you are free to go. I do believe Ms. Valliere needs her loyal familiar with her at her side."

Cherub nodded and went out of the headmaster's office.

A few hours later, it was already night as the sun already set down.

Clearly, there is a party at the Academy and everyone is celebrating. Kirche is the most attention getting due to her rather revealing outfit much to the chagrin of many female students as every single male that can reach her went straight to her. Guiche is wearing resplendent clothing complete with a cape which looks similar to the military regalia that his own father wears during the Royal Court's session except that it doesn't have the gaudy military medals and decorations on it. Beside him is Montmorency who is keeping a constant eye on him so he would not be able to hit on girls much to his disappointment although he can't voice it out or he's going to have a really bad night. Tabitha is just beside the corner busy slicing a large chunk of meat and ignoring everybody else. She is just wearing a dress almost similar to the ones worn by the other girls.

As everyone is celebrating, an announcer spoke.

"And now, presenting the third daughter of the Valliere Family, Ms. Louise Francoise Le Blanc de la Valliere!", the announcer spoke.

Just then, a short statured girl in what can be said as the best gown ever seen entered the room. Almost every single male student approached the girl who is Louise. Guiche has to restrain himself or he'll find himself on the bad end of the line. Louise found herself surrounded by many boys asking her to dance with them. However, she refused all of them and began rotating her head as if she is finding somebody. Her efforts aren't fruitless as she eventually found who she is finding. Well, it's certainly worth it.

It was a man in very dignified attire. If it wasn't for the young man's glowing yellow eyes, Louise and everyone will just mistake the young man which is Cherub for somebody else.

Time stopped for that moment as Louise's and Cherub's gazes locked into each other.

A pleasant moment happened shortly afterwards.

-_CHAPTER 11 END-_

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**PS: Whew, that takes care of this chapter. The events at the party will be shown as a flashback next chapter. Guys, stay tuned as more events will follow. I'm not sure but I might diverge the story from the canon ZnT in order to accommodate several changes due to the feats that Cherub did.**


	12. Chapter 12: Flickers of Emotions

**Author's notes: Okay, I read from some of the reviews that Cherub should have a character development happening by now. Don't worry guys; he'll have a character development although that will happen in a bit-by-bit basis. Think of how you train an AI AC in AC3:SL, that's how it will turn out. It requires a LOT of time to train it according to your standards isn't it?**

**Also I received word that I should just use "it" or "he" to refer to Cherub from a reviewer which I will now implement in this chapter. Part of the reason is that I find it too specific.**

**As for the plot, the story will divert from the canon storyline due to the feats that Cherub pulled off like the one in the contest. So expect some original events that will happen here along canon events that can still be implemented as the story progress.**

**As for somebody talking about Primal Armor, let's just say that he'll be getting something similar to this when the events of the Dragon Raiment happen.**

**Oh yeah, for the review of Cherub fighting another AC… I would like to say that I will throw something else bigger and it would help in Cherub's personality and character development. If you watched the episode in Gundam Seed Destiny where Kira takes down the Destroy (the giant Gundam), something like this will happen in the future although it would yield lesser casualties since Halkeginia has a smaller population than Earth. Also, just because Cherub is an overpowered AC (heck, all AI-controlled ACs are powerful by default) doesn't mean that this fic will turn into a Gary stu. Cherub has one drawback and that is his inability to feel emotions like Joseph.**

**Also, this is where canon plotlines diverge. Do expect to see some OCs and some familiar characters from appearing here. You are right guys, Cherub did attracted a lot of attention over what he did at the Familiar Exhibition: Turning large rock boulders into large solid gemstones while also trashing Fouquet at the same time as if the famous thief was just some other pansy on the streets isn't something to be ignored.**

**Also, the following are the reasons why I wasn't able to update this fic for about a month:**

**College Work**

**Troll Mom**

**Playing Ace Combat X2: Joint Assault and other games on my PSP**

**Busy typing for all three of my fanfics SIMULTANEOUSLY**

**Before I forgot, the next chapter of "A Commander's Path: Road To Freedom" will be coming up in the next several days. Please be patient.**

**Without anything more to say, enjoy reading Chapter 12!**

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**==========Chapter 12: Flickers of Emotions==========**

_Flashback…_

_At the party…_

_The entire crowd of the party is in awe at the sight of the handsome young man before them. Louise is still having eye contact with Cherub when the latter walked forward to her. Cherub is wearing a fancy looking outfit similar to the ones worn by the male students in the party but his facial features, body build, and glowing golden eyes made him stand out among the others._

_As Cherub walked towards Louise, gasps from the female students can be heard and even Kirche had her attention completely nailed on Cherub. Tabitha ceased on eating and watched Cherub closely with a quite sharp glare. Guiche, on the other hand, felt that Montmorency's grip on him loosened a lot and the killer aura was now gone. When he looked at Montmorency, he was a bit surprised by what he saw. Like the other female students, Montmorency is gasping like the other female students and Guiche can swear that her eyes are sparkling. Guiche sighed. He know the reason exactly why Montmorency is like this. Usually, he can use this opportunity to hit on other girls but this is ruled out due to the fact that the other girls have the same expression as her blonde girlfriend. Though he had to admit, this allowed him to breathe easily. In fact, Montmorency doesn't seem to see that he's beside her at all._

_When Cherub thought that he is within range of Louise, he spoke._

"_Master, is there anything wrong?", Cherub asked._

_Louise snapped back to reality and started to blabber in panic._

"_U-Uhm… W-Wh-where did y-you get t-that s-s-suit?", Louise asked incoherently._

"_Headmaster Osmond said that I should go to this gathering in this attire. He gave it to me and insisted that I should wear this to get your attention", Cherub replied, "Though I do not know how exactly this will work out."_

"_T-That old leecher…", Louise thought in her mind._

_Seeing his master's face expression, Cherub asked her._

"_Master, is something the matter?", Cherub asked._

"_N-Nothing in particular", Louise asked as her face blushed red._

_Before the two could talk, pleasant music began to fill in prompting the occasional dance in the party._

"_Master, can we dance?", Cherub asked with his arm extended to Louise in a gentleman manner._

_Louise started to stutter as she asked what all of this was about._

"_Headmaster Osmond informed me of proper etiquettes concerning situations like this", Cherub said as he explained everything._

_After Cherub's explanation, Louise accepted Cherub's hand and the two started to dance much to the chagrin of the other girls in the room including Kirche and, to a lesser extent, Tabitha. Guiche felt the killer aura back on Montmorency causing him to gulp in unease again._

_As the two dances, they also have a talk._

"_So… the Staff of Destruction is really a weapon of your world, do you feel of going back to your world?", Louise asked with a low voice._

"_Negative, I cannot feel emotions and I do not have any attachment to a particular location", Cherub said, "However, I cannot explain why I did various things up to now. Something… is… odd… regarding with my systems."_

"_I-I see", Louise said._

"_Master, I detected a rise in temperature in your body. Is there anything wrong?", Cherub asked._

"_N-No-Nothing", Louise said._

"_What did you and the headmaster talked about earlier?", Louise asked._

"_About the weapon we recovered earlier", Cherub said, "Headmaster Osmond was surprised to know about it and Professor Colbert asked me to help him in figuring out the other artifacts currently in the treasure vault tomorrow."_

"_Anything else?", Louise asked._

"_Headmaster Osmond also told me that he is sending a message to the Royal Court of what happened. I believe that it has something to do with granting an award to you and the others that went with us", Cherub said._

"_Is that message sent to Princess Henrietta?", Louise asked._

"_Likely", Cherub said._

_After Cherub answered, he asked in return._

"_Master, can I ask you of one thing?", Cherub asked._

"_What is it?", Louise replied._

"_Before I came here, headmaster Osmond told me that I should kiss you. What is this all about?" Cherub asked._

_Flashback end._

Louise jerked up on her bed in her room. She immediately put her hand to cover her lips and found that her lips are dry. Moreover, she's still wearing the dress she had at the party. Other than that, nothing out of the ordinary. She then swiveled her head around her room. After she looked around, she realized that she's all alone in her room.

Though she can't explain it herself, she prepared herself up by taking off her dress which is quite hard to do due to the large numbers of frills on it. After a while, she succeeded on taking off her dress and wore her usual Academy uniform. As soon as she thought that she's ready, she went out of her room.

Outside, nothing out of the ordinary can be spotted. The corridors and hallways don't emit any strange ambience or anything. Just the typical atmosphere like any other day which she is already accustomed to.

That period of just the normal day, however, came to an end when she reached the ground floor of the Academy. From the first step of stairways heading up to the second floor, she can see a blonde-haired woman wearing glasses and dressed in attire that she all know too well. The same woman is also talking with Professor Colbert though she can't hear what the two are talking about.

"_Big sis Eleanor?_", Louise thought, "_What is she doing here?_"

As she is staring at the two conversing figures from afar, the woman now known as Eleanor suddenly swiveled her head in Louise's direction.

"CHIBI LOUISE!", Eleanor said as she made her way towards Louise, leaving behind Colbert who just looked on.

After several minutes, all that can be seen is Eleanor pinching Louise square in the cheek.

"Miss Valliere!", Colbert said as he approached the two sisters though he is referring to Eleonore in this situation.

"Chibi Louise, what is this news that you have summoned an unusual familiar?", Eleonore asked in an intimidating tone, "I even received words from the Queen's Royal Guards about this. Speak up now and don't dare leave an inch of truth behind!"

Louise began to panic as evident on the look on her face. Fortunately, Colbert just made it to them and he immediately knew how to fix this situation.

"Calm down Miss Valliere", Colbert said, "If those news have something to do with the Familiar Exhibition and Fouquet's capture. They are all true."

Eleanor turned her attention to Colbert before replying.

"Very well then, I would like to see chibi Louise's familiar", Eleanor said.

"Uhm… he's currently at the Academy's laboratory", Colbert said, "He is helping me with developing my invention right now."

Eleanor raised an eyebrow on that.

"You are still into that thing?", Eleanor asked, "Do you realize that you can be branded as a heretic if you pushed through more?"

"Calm down Miss Valliere", Colbert said, "When I mentioned it to Miss Louise's familiar, he said that he knows it too well and offered to create a functioning one. When I left him to get something in the faculty office, he is making some serious progress. I wonder if he's finished already though."

"I am curious to meet this… _familiar_", Eleonore said, "I saw the boulder-sized gemstones lying on the Academy grounds which I believe were the ones that I heard in the news and that this familiar is responsible for it."

Colbert then led the two Vallieres to where the laboratory was. It took them about ten minutes before they reached the Academy's lab. Once there, Colbert looked at the two and spoke.

"Uhm… Miss Valliere", Colbert said, "Please not try to do anything on Miss Louise's familiar."

Eleonore just glared at Colbert before she spoke.

"Just open the door", Eleonore said.

Colbert sighed but he complied nonetheless.

"Okay, here we are", Colbert said as he opened the door.

Inside the room, the three saw Cherub and right next to him is an object that Colbert knew very well.

"You completed it!", Colbert exclaimed as he eyed the now-finished contraption before him.

Eleanor eyed the young man in front of him. Obviously, the young man will pass off for a commoner due to how he is dressed… if not for those glowing golden eyes.

"Professor Colbert, who is this commoner?", Eleonore asked as she eyed Louise like a lion poised to eat its prey. Louise, of course, kind of felt scared.

"Uhm…", Colbert said as he scratched his bald head, "That is Miss Louise's familiar in human form. I believe that you might have heard in the news that the familiar in question can assume human form."

"I can believe the other facts except this", Eleanor said sternly, "Golems are several times bigger and taller than a human so this is impossible."

"Cherub can you show her your true form?", Colbert asked.

Cherub then looked at Louise, still somewhat a bit terrified, who nodded.

"Understood, I will show my true form outside", Cherub said in a rather robotic tone catching Eleonore by surprise.

"What?", Eleonore asked as Cherub went out of the laboratory.

"Well, Cherub is really big for a golem", Colbert said, "That he needs to be in human form in order to fit in areas like here."

"Cherub?", Eleonore asked.

"Yes, that is the name of Miss Louise's familiar", Colbert added, "I'm a bit surprised that he even has a name and he's smart for being a golem. I wonder what kind of golem is he though."

Eleonore didn't say anything in reply and just followed Cherub outside. Louise and Colbert followed suit. It didn't take ten minutes or so before the group made it to a wide open area of the Academy. Once there, Eleonore stared at Cherub.

"Now, show your true form if you are really a golem", Eleonore commanded.

Cherub nodded and he was engulfed in a bright light just a moment after it prompting Eleonore, Louise, and Colbert to shield their eyes due to the intensity and brightness of said light. The bright light subsided after several minutes. The three then put their arms down and… Eleonore was a bit shocked by what she saw.

In front of her is a golem… however, it was not as simple as that. Unlike the usual golems made of earth, stone, and other kinds of dirt, this golem in front of her appears to be made out of fine and shiny metal that no blacksmith or alchemist that she know is capable of creating. Moreover, this golem looked like a knight due to its appearance and she can feel that it is exuding some sort of regal aura and dominance around it or so she thought. At the same time, the "wings" on its back made the golem look some sort of an angel as well. All in all, this may be not as big as the golems of famous square-class mages that she knew but this is obviously superior due to its appearance and judging from the news alone makes this quite obvious but that is assuming that said news are real. However, just seeing the golem in person made it clear that everything about this golem is clearly true.

"Uh… Is it true that you can fly?", Eleonore asked with a tone of disbelief visible in her voice.

"Correct", Cherub said as he began to hover for about 15 feet off the ground.

To say that Eleonore was surprised at this was a complete understatement. Instead, she is completely mind blown. Golems aren't supposed to be capable of flying and, most important of all, dumb and useless without a master. However, here is something in front of her that made all of those standards crumble away like how the waves make a sand castle crumble.

Cherub descended down after several minutes of showing off since there's no reason to be at this state any longer. However, it wasn't done yet as Eleonore asked a question.

"Are those really wings?", Eleonore asked.

"Yes", Cherub stated, "But they can also function as weapons."

"What?", Eleonore said in shock that those "wings" behind were weapons, "Then show it to us."

Cherub complied and the two MWC-LQ/25-14s behind Cherub began to go into firing position. After setting up which is the cannons aimed up in the sky in a 45 degree inclination, Cherub's multi-shot laser cannons burst with fire. Eleonore went wide eye at such a display of power. More than two dozens of searing bolts of energy shot out of those "wing cannons" as she now called it.

Eleonore then eyed the golem in front of her and analyzed it thoroughly. Judging from what she just saw, this golem is no doubt a powerful entity. To say that a being as powerful as this is a familiar of a mage is an unexpected development. It possess abilities that even golems made by square-class mages don't have like the ability to fly, talk, perform transmutation,… and even shape shift into a handsome young man. Wait, the last part isn't really needed but to think that a golem can do that is out of the blue. To add another topping to the cake, this golem is also smart. If this golem happened to be a human, he'll end up probably as one of the most powerful mages she has seen by just his transmutation ability regarding metals alone. This is what Colbert told her earlier before she saw chibi Louise from a distance.

However, it is a more unexpected development that this same golem familiar is the familiar of Louise the Zero who hasn't shown any magical prowess up to now hence her derogatory runic name. She can't make ends meet. To say that a talentless mage like Louise ends up summoning a familiar of great power doesn't make any sense. Or… does Louise simply pretend to be a weakling up until now? She glared at Louise like a lion assessing its prey causing Louise to get nervous again. After a few good moments, she switched her attention on the golem again who just seem to be waiting for the next orders.

As she is staring at the steel winged golem, she heard Louise yell something.

"Cherub do something about this old hag will you?!", Louise yelled.

That caused Eleonore to get angry as seen by the veins forming up in the sides of her forehead. To call her as an "old hag" or any equivalent terms is a big no. Colbert sensed a nasty killing aura emanating from Eleonore and he can see Louise's older sister being engulfed in imaginary flames. The sight of Eleonore being mad made Louise yelp in fear and Colbert will swear that this is the next thing that he'll be damned to be in front of him with the first one being the Duchess Valliere in terms of being mad.

"Uhm… Miss Valliere…", Colbert said as he tried to defuse the tension again.

Eleonore didn't let Colbert to finish what he was saying and calmed down as if nothing happened. However, as she calmed down, the golem familiar replied.

"Negative", Cherub replied to Louise's words, "Attacking a noble has several dire consequences attached to it. Furthermore, the noble in question is not armed with any weaponry although she is carrying a wand hidden beneath her clothes based on my scan and the scan also returned a 96% DNA match. I believe that this noble you are referring to is your older sister, Master."

To use the word "smart" to refer to the fact that the golem can think is now an understatement thanks to its reply. True, the golem is smart. However, she didn't expect that it could reply like this. It is capable of assessing the situation at hand far better detailed than a human could. If a noble with such intellect as this happened to be assigned at the Royal Court, things will probably go good for Tristain when it comes to political affairs. The only thing that can be used to describe the intellectual level of this golem is "genius". However, there is one thing that puzzled her…

"How did you know that I am chibi Louise's older sister and what is with this DNA match?", Eleonore asked, "Also, how did you found out that I am carrying a wand?"

The last thing she said placed her at unease. Her wand is currently concealed beneath her clothes but how did this golem saw it?

"I can perform scans on any target that I want", Cherub explained, "The scan I performed on you showed no signatures of metals or anything that can be classified as a weapon except for that stick of wood. As of now, I can see your wand positioned in such a way that you will be able to draw it instantly under your clothes in a moment's notice. About you being the older sister of my master, your DNA molecular structure is almost identical to that of my master. The DNA is like a tag. The DNA of one human is different in some ways to another human even if those two humans are related by blood. In other words, DNA is used to identify a human and said human's genetic relationship to another human. Higher DNA match will mean closer family connection while a 100% DNA match is used to make positive identifications of targeted humans. I do believe that you are 27 years old based on the structure of your body. Also do bear in mind that I am capable of scanning targets from up to 3000 meters and this allows me to assess a target before engaging it."

Well thought out explanation. Eleonore mused. However, she didn't get any idea about this DNA but the fact with the scan made her a bit embarrassed especially that the golem managed to predict her age correctly.

"Can you see what's beneath my clothes?", Eleonore asked.

This caused Colbert to flush red. The question doesn't make any impact on Louise at all. She is currently glued to the fact that her familiar is capable of standing up to her older sister without getting scared as if her older sister is just like any other people.

"Correct", Cherub replied, "Though, I have not used it at all. Thermal scanning is much more useful than that and I believe that question was also asked by Miss Montmorency shortly before Fouquet was captured."

That reply made Eleonore a bit embarrassed more. This golem appears to be capable of doing anything she can think of. Considering that, she has to be very careful when she is around this golem.

"Alright, I'm done with everything", Eleonore said, "You are free to switch back to your… _human form_."

Cherub complied and a bright light erupted. After the light subsided, Cherub is back in his human form.

Eleonore eyed Cherub for a few good moments before turning her back and walked away. As she walked away, she heard Louise asked a question on the golem.

"H-How can you stand up like that to my older sister?", Louise asked.

"This human called as your older sister does not pose any threat", Cherub said, "Furthermore, I did some searching on the power levels of a mage and I believe she is what you can call a triangle-class mage."

That reply made Eleonore gulped. This golem is also capable of adapting to any environment or situation it is in and knew information that it is not supposed to know. What more can it do?

Eleonore just dismissed it. What she went for in the Academy is done and, she'll admit, it's worth her time. That news that she heard at Oriz Magic Academy really are true. Initially, she is skeptical that Louise's familiar can do such things considering the fact that Louise's magical potential is zero. Still, she's happy that Louise finally proved herself.

Though she doubted it, their mother, the Duchess Karin, probably heard the same things as rumors. After all rumors do travel faster than the real news but she is sure that her mother will react to this in one way or another. After several minutes of walking, Eleanor reached the main gate of the Academy and left.

As soon as the three are sure that Eleonore is gone, Colbert turned to Cherub and spoke.

"You said that you finished making the engine right?", Colbert asked.

"Yes, Mister Colbert", Cherub replied, "By the size of the engine that I made using the materials in the laboratory, the engine will be best suited to be mounted on a carriage. However, we need to properly encase it and build the other important parts for it to work properly.

"Hey you two! Don't ignore me!", Louise yelled. She's now back to her former self now that Eleonore is gone. She sure is scared of that big sister of hers.

"Master, judging from the time of the day, I assume you are considered late for your class", Cherub said.

This made Louise to go silent as she realized it.

"I-I'm late!", Louise yelled as she ran away into the direction of the building where the classrooms are located.

As Louise got smaller on the horizon, Colbert looked at Cherub and spoke.

"I have a spare carriage at the Academy's stables. Let's mount that engine into it", Colbert said.

Cherub nodded and the two went for the Academy's stables.

Meanwhile, at the Valliere estate…

Duchess Karin Desiree de La Valliere and the Duke of Valliere are sitting in front of the table while drinking tea as they discuss various matters.

"Is it true that you sent Eleonore to the Academy to confirm those rumors?", the duke asked.

"It was Eleonore's decision to confirm those rumors", Karin said as she sipped tea on her tea cup, "However, I am interested in that golem summoned by Louise as her familiar. Some of those rumors say that this golem turned large boulders of rock into various giant gemstones. I do not believe in rumors but just seeing various other nobles trying to establish a solid link with us, I think it is right that we clarify this."

"Hmm… that's right", the duke replied as he massaged his moustache, "I received a lot of letters from many nobles last night about our youngest daughter's familiar. Even Her Highness has informed me about it so I believe that we should look into this."

Karin looked up to the duke before replying.

"Even the Queen herself?", Karin asked.

"Yes, she even claimed to be at the Familiar Exhibition when the golem turned those rock boulders into giant gemstones."

Karin looked at the tea cup she is holding. Considering that even the Queen is involved, this is a matter that really needs her attention. She mused about what she is going to learn when Eleonore comes back.

_-CHAPTER 12 END-_

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**PS: Alright, that wraps up chapter 12. One thing I'm going to say about the next chapter… expect a complete deviation from the canon storyline (though I would try to implement them if I see them fit). Stay tuned. The next chapter will contain a lot of amusing events.**


	13. Chapter 13: Increasing Target Profile

**Author's notes: Finally, I finished this chapter. I stumbled through a lot of ruckus which is why I was not able to write this chapter easily. No writer's block but time constraints and trying to integrate a better elaboration of events got on the way.**

**Also, this will be the chapter where I have added an OC in this story.**

**Without further ado, here's Chapter 13!**

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**==========Chapter 13: Increasing Target Profile==========**

Cherub and Colbert are currently inside the Academy's stables. Shortly after seeing Louise make a run for her classroom, the two went to where the carts belonging to the Academy are stored after getting the newly-built engine along with several more objects from the laboratory as well as Derflinger who doesn't want to be left out in Louise's room.

"Okay, we're here", Colbert said as he opened the door of the stables.

The two went in with Cherub carrying the engine along with several more steel bars with him and a large jar holding some sort of a clear yellowish liquid with him while Derflinger is strapped to his waist. Due to being unrestricted by weight load thanks to the HUMAN PLUS enhancement, the objects being carried by Cherub are not a problem to him.

The stable is currently vacant. No one is here except for the horses and carriages currently stored inside.

"That's the cart that we'll be using", Colbert said as he pointed his finger at a cart on the other side of the stable.

The two then went towards the unused and unoccupied cart. The cart has two sets of wheels making it easy for Cherub to install the engine. The moment the two managed to get right next to the cart, Cherub immediately set to work. As Cherub is working, Colbert can't help but be amazed by what he is seeing. Currently, Cherub is bending the steel bars with him into several certain shapes with just his bare hands. For human hands, steel is an extremely hard object that it can't be bent with just hands. Cherub is not a human but seeing a being that looks almost human do this feat is just too unreal. All Colbert can do is staring at the golem currently in his human form mold the steel bars in his discretion with speed, finesse, and precision. After several more minutes, it was over.

"Uhm… what did you do?", Colbert asked with a puzzled look on his face.

"I am setting the mechanical framework needed in order to allow the engine to move this cart", Cherub stated as he emplaced the last piece to where it should be.

Colbert looked at what Cherub did. Oddly, it looked like some sort of skeleton and the main nodes are all linked up on the engine. Also, some sort of stick is sticking out right next to a wheel. Just how is this supposed to work?

As he is thinking, Cherub opened the lid of the jar he brought along and poured its contents on the hole of the engine. Colbert heard as the liquid splashed on the bottom of the container that the engine had.

Meanwhile inside Louise classroom, the class started like usual although Louise found one thing odd: The usual atmosphere is gone and she can feel the stares of her classmates all pointed at her. When she looked around, she can see almost all of the students with a… _curious_ look on their faces. Just several moments ago, she was running across the corridor in order to catch up with her class. In this situation, she noticed that every single student immediately stepped aside giving a wide berth for her to pass through upon seeing her. Surprisingly, those students are a mix of first, second, and third years.

The teacher, on the other hand, is continuing with her job as always but Louise can tell that the teacher always takes quick glances at her whenever the latter has a chance. To be honest, the teacher is having doubts about herself regarding whether the reputation that the young Valliere has in front of her about being the "Zero" is still applicable at all. This young scion of the Valliere Family summoned something that she, her fellow teachers, and even the headmaster can't comprehend. The headmaster tried to stop most of the students that saw what the young Valliere's familiar did at the Familiar exhibition from writing to their parents about what happened by secretly keeping their letters but to no avail. The reason for this is that even Her Highness informed her closest advisors about it not to mention that one of the Queen's most important advisers, Cardinal Mazarin, saw what the familiar did with his own eyes during the Familiar Exhibition event including how easily the familiar dealt with the infamous thief Fouquet who suddenly attacked in the middle of the Familiar Exhibition. Since there are also some students here that came from other countries, it's likely that news about the familiar reached the other countries by now as rumors… at least. It will be just a matter of time before things get a lot complicated starting now. The Royal court will be likely making a move and it's likely that it will have something to do either with the familiar itself or with the Valliere family. For her part, she is one of the many people that heard that familiar's strange ability of storing anything it calls "inorganic" in a separate space or whatever it is. That ability alone is something that will make any mage quite envious as it will allow them to get anything they want much more easily in the long term.

Still, the teacher dismissed it at the moment. Things had become weird ever since that golem familiar of the young Valliere came into existence. Just what is it? From the abilities that it had shown so far, it is definitely not just a simple golem.

Meanwhile, inside the Academy's library, Ms. Chevreuse is currently browsing through the library's archives when she noticed something strange. Compared to any other day, the library is currently bustling with lots of students who are borrowing books to read and who all turned out to be first years judging from the color of their capes and some of those students are even third years given the few purple capes mixing in with the brown ones. Still, she also noticed that all of these students are females. Being curious, she went towards the librarian and asked.

"Excuse me", Ms. Chevreuse said, "What is going on here? I see that there are too many students currently doing some reading."

"Uhm…", the librarian began, "All of these students have borrowed books regarding Earth magic and are reading it. But to be honest, I noticed that they are more interested to borrow Earth magic books that contain information about golems."

It didn't take Ms. Chevreuse to know exactly what is going on. Just hearing the word "golem" already is enough to tell her where this is going to.

"Thank you for your answer", Ms. Chevreuse said before turning her attention on the crowd of female students who are all reading books. It's kind of a strange day seeing the library too occupied like this. The library is the least-visited place in the Academy after all.

Meanwhile outside the school, a carriage is seen speeding towards the Academy's gates. The carriage itself is decorated with expensive looking accessories and is being pulled by four brown horses. No doubt, this carriage is carrying a noble at least.

The carriage slowed down the moment it entered the Academy grounds and came to a full stop a few seconds later. The carriage's door opened and out came a girl probably of 17 years of age and she has a dull blond hair that goes all the way down to her waist. She is wearing what seems to be a Romalian nun uniform except that it doesn't have a hood. The girl flicked her hair with her right hand and scanned the area.

"So this is Tristain's Magic Academy huh?", the girl said, "Why did the Holy Council ordered me to go into a place like this just for a golem?"

The girl let the question hang in her mind before she dismissed it.

"Nevertheless, I will eventually find out", the girl said as he went towards the entrance door of the Academy building and she is being accompanied by a middle-aged man who seems to be a priest based on the clothes he is wearing and have come out of the carriage after the girl went out.

The two easily navigated themselves inside the Academy and found themselves staring at the door of the Headmaster's office. The man accompanying the girl knocked on the door and Headmaster Osmond's voice is heard thereafter.

"Please come in", Headmaster Osmond said.

When the door opened, Headmaster Osmond could see a beautiful young girl and a middle-aged man which he easily identified as a priest of Romalia although not a high one.

"Please have a seat", Headmaster Osmond said to which the two individuals in front of him did.

As soon as the two are sitting in place and everything appears ready for a conversation, Headmaster Osmond asked them.

"What can I do for you?", Headmaster Osmond asked.

"I am Oktavia Galeazzo Visconti", the girl said in identifying herself, "And this is Father Mathis La Grua." Both of us are sent in by the Holy Council of Romalia to… oversee certain events in this Academy."

Osmond knew what it is and he replied accordingly.

"I see, so even Romalia has heard of it. If this has something to do about a golem in the Familiar Exhbition", Osmond replied, "Then I believe that it really is something that you should look into."

"I've heard all of those rumors back at Romalia", Father Mathis finally spoke, "To be honest, I will simply dismiss all of those rumors as nonsense but seeing that it came from Cardinal Mazarin's letter I thought about it twice."

"Well, the Cardinal has seen for himself the extent of what that majestic golem can do so I do expect that he'll act in one way or another", Osmond replied, "I am quite embarrassed though as it also shown the weakness of the Academy's security detail at that situation."

Headmaster Osmond reclined on his seat as he said the last words. He is referring to the Fouquet fiasco that interrupted the Familiar Exhibition event. Honestly, it damaged the Academy's reputation quite bad since the infamous thief managed to get away with an artifact although the familiar of the young Valliere saved it quite nicely in time… and with style.

"That mere oversight caused by a lowly thief will be simply ignored in light of this discovery", Oktavia simply said, "From what the rumors say, this is no ordinary golem given its capabilities is it not?"

"Yes…", Osmond answered, "To think that such a being can be summoned… is something none expected and more so since the summoner in question is the youngest scion of the Valliere family. "

"I take it that this Valliere is a high-level mage, am I right?", Oktavia asked.

Headmaster Osmond chuckled a little before he replied.

"On the contrary, it is the opposite", Osmond said.

"What do you mean?", Father Mathis asked, "I have heard that this Valliere is the daughter of the Heavy Wind so she must be at least a line-class mage at this point."

"Ms. Valliere is considered to have no potential in magic due to her repeated failures in the practical aspects of it", Osmond said, "The only reason why she is still here is due to the agreement with the Duchess that Louise can stay in this Academy as long as she can fulfill the Academy's academicals requirement. "

"So this golem changed everything?", Father Mathis asked.

"Yes", Osmond answered, "Just the day after the Familiar Exhibition, almost every single student wrote letters about what happened. I have to postpone sending those letters immediately in order to settle matters into a more manageable level. Still, rumors managed to pass through and I believe I have no other reason left to maintain possession of those letters. I'll have to send them now."

Osmond pointed at the desk just on the other side of the room and the two visitors took a look. To their surprise, they saw the table's surface being completely occupied by a mountain of letters. A few moments later, a messenger entered the room after greeting the three people inside the room and took the letters to be delivered. Once the messenger is exited the room, Oktavia was the first to speak.

"Well, things escalated quite quickly about that golem", Oktavia commented.

"That golem showed itself to be a clear meshing of all the elements…", Osmond said, "Fast as the wind, tough as the earth, destructive as the flames, and moves fluidly like water."

"What are you saying?", Father Mathis asked.

"Ms. Valliere's familiar seems to be a work of perfection", Osmond replied, "It has almost everything that a mage could envy. Composure, intellect, precision, elemental transmutations… just what else could it do?"

Father Mathias raised an eyebrow over the last part that Osmond said.

"You said elemental transmutations?", Father Mathis asked.

"Yes, that golem turned large boulders into giant gemstones during the Familiar Exhibit after all", Osmond confirmed.

"Well, where are these gemstones?", Father Mathis followed with another question, "It is impossible for such a thing. Elemental transmutations are completely difficult and inefficient even for the most powerful and experienced square-class mages."

"Those gemstones are currently locked in an empty room in the first floor of the Academy", Osmond replied, "The Palace was already informed of this and gave us an order to keep these giant gemstones for safekeeping until further notice. If you insist, I can arrange things for you to see it."

Father Mathis appeared to have stepped back from his stand and replied with a calm tone.

"Never mind, I now understand everything", Father Mathis said.

"Good", Headmaster Osmond replied, "Is there anything else?"

This was Oktavia's turn to speak.

"Yes", Oktavia said, "Actually, the Holy Council has ordered me to stay in this Academy in order to keep this golem in check. Consequently, I will have to enroll in this Academy in order to complete this task."

"I see", Osmond replied, "But is it really a good idea to have someone from the Church undertake something like this?"

"That won't be a problem", Father Mathis answered, "This has been all agreed upon by the Holy Council. They are quite interested on what they will find out about this golem and they all await the results."

"I see", Osmond said, "Very well, I shall be preparing your admission papers Ms. Oktavia so you can immediately participate in the Academy's school activities."

"Thank you for your cooperation", Oktavia replied.

Oktavia and Father Mathis went out of the Headmaster's room after talking about certain things. The meeting itself is quite long but it produced somewhat a very interesting and favorable outcome. The Familiar Exhibition itself, while a disaster for the most part due to Fouquet's thievery, still helped the Academy gain a lot of positive attention instead of a negative one and this is all thanks to the young Valliere's familiar.

As the door closed gently, Osmond began to look at the window and thought about things to come. If Romalia have made a decision like this, it seems that other interested parties will do the same and it's just a matter of time when they will make theirs.

In the Academy's grounds, Oktavia and Father Mathis went back to their carriage. With everything considered as accounted for, Father Mathis is to go back at Romalia while Oktavia is to stay at the Academy to do her observations.

"Well then, I'll be going back to Romalia. My reason for coming here with you is to facilitate this part of the Holy Council's efforts to keep an eye on that golem", Father Mathis said.

"I understand", Oktavia replied, "Though I am also interested in finding out that nature of that golem. Come to think of it, where could that golem be?"

"It must be probably accompanying its master at the moment", Father Mathis suggested, "I heard that it can also turn into its… _human form_. Honestly, I find this absurd. All golems are too large so how they can fit into that?"

"Well, we will eventually learn about it", Oktavia replied.

As Father Mathis is about to get inside the carriage, the two suddenly heard a strange noise and it's coming near their location. They looked at where the noise is coming from and they were surprised to see what they saw.

What they saw is a rather unbelievable one: A cart that moves without a horse pulling it. Instead, they saw two people riding on top of it. One appears to be a bald middle-aged man wearing glasses while the other one is a commoner due to his clothes except that something is weird about said person. Father Mathis immediately understood that the middle-aged man is a teacher but he doesn't know about the other.

Father Mathis stopped in his place as Oktavia went in the way forcing the cart to stop. The cart stopped after noticing Oktavia on their way.

"What are you doing on the way?", Colbert asked as he got down from the motorized cart.

"I presume that it is more important that you tell me about what you are doing?", Oktavia said in return.

Colbert realized what he did. The girl in front of him is wearing what looked like a Romalian nun clothing and he noticed a carriage with a Romalian priest on board.

"Uhm… this is just a little undertaking that I am doing for some months", Colbert replied, "And it seems that it finally paid off.

Oktavia frowned at the statement.

"What do you mean paid off?", Oktavia asked.

"I've been working on the steam engine for some months and… fortunately, after those months of hardships, somebody showed up that can help me. Actually, this was built just recently", Colbert said.

"What?", Oktavia only said from what he heard, "Who is this somebody?"

Colbert glanced on Cherub to come alongside him. Oktavia noticed the other person accompanying Colbert approaching them and she sensed that something is not right about this person. For one, she noticed that the commoner's eyes are glowing like gold. He also exudes a weird aura around him and his face looks somewhat blank.

"Is there anything wrong Mr. Colbert?", Cherub asked in his usual robotic tone catching Oktavia by surprise like Eleonore.

"W-Wh-Why… ar-are your v-voice di-different?", Oktavia said in a rather panicked tone while her finger is pointing at Cherub, "What are you?!"

"Oh, I forgot", Colbert replied, "This is the human form of the golem that is spreading in the rumors. I assume that you are sent in by Romalia to investigate this judging from your clothes. Well, it seems that your task will be a lot easier since he's now in front of you."

Oktavia can't believe what she is seeing. This young man or whatever it is is the golem that she is looking for. She knew from the rumors that it can take human form but something as realistic as this is something that she didn't expected. Since she can't find anything to ask about the golem, she switched the topic on Colbert's steam engine.

"So, how did you managed to create this… thing?", Oktavia asked as she pointed her finger on the now-motorized cart.

"Through careful construction of all the parts", Cherub explained, "Mr. Colbert has laid the basic foundations of the engine which made my task easier. However, the engine itself cannot be used to propel this cart alone so metal parts have to be erected in place first from where the engine's energy can be tunneled to the wheels allowing the cart to move. The technical explanation of how this contraption works is very complicated but the physical framework has been simplified to allow it to be easily constructed."

"I understand", Oktavia said as she finally regained her composure.

Oktavia went away once she realized that she no longer has anything to say. She went towards the carriage that Father Mathis is on. When she is just next to the priest, the priest asked her.

"So, what did you learn?", Father Mathis asked.

"That young man over there is the golem in human form", Oktavia said simply.

"What?!", Father Mathis said in surprise and did a double take on the young man accompanying Colbert.

The priest thought deeply before he spoke again.

"This will be a big issue once the Holy Council and His Holiness hears this", Father Mathis simply said, "Anyways, this makes this observation all the way more important. I want you to keep an eye on that golem as much as possible."

"I understand", Oktavia replied.

The priest then went inside the carriage. After a few moments, the carriage moved and sped out of the Academy. As the carriage became smaller on the horizon, Oktavia proceeded to the Academy. She needs to attend to several matters by herself on this one.

Far away from Tristain Magic Academy, Eleonore has finally arrived at the Valliere estate.

The travel between the Academy and the Valliere estate is quite tiresome. However, her mind is still nailed nicely on one thing: that steel golem.

As soon as the carriage stopped in front of the Valliere estate mansion, Eleonore immediately went out of the carriage and went inside the mansion. As soon as Eleonore opened the door, a cast of servants greeted her along with a well-endowed woman with the same hair color as Louise.

"Welcome back, Eleonore-sama", the cast of servants said in unison

Eleonore dismissed the servants after greeting them and shifted her attention to the pink-haired woman in front of her.

"Eleonore, I'm glad that you're finally back", the woman said.

"Thank you for your greetings, Cattleya", Eleonore replied, "Where is mother and father?"

"They are currently in the study room", the woman now known as Cattleya said, "Do you want to go there?"

"Not necessarily", Eleonore answered, "I have one important issue to attend to."

With that, Eleonore went ahead leaving Cattleya behind. For Eleonore, that issue that she needs to attend to is something that she will really need to look on thoroughly.

_-CHAPTER 13 END-_

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**PS: Oktavia is sent by the Church of Romalia to oversee the golem which is Cherub. I got this inspiration from Julio's first appearance in ZnT (I just "reversed" the scenario this time). Consequently, Oktavia is affiliated with the Church and she'll be treated as such. How she looks like will be described in the next chapter. Also, Oktavia and Father Mathis were based off Italian names. I hope you can figure out where I got their names. Stay tuned for the next chapter.**


	14. Chapter 14: Church and Technology

**Author's Notes: I apologize if this chapter came in after more than a month. I have many things to take care of like college work, get some rest after a hell of a work, my other fan fics (there's three of them all in all and I'm juggling them), and all. More than that, I'm busy using Google SketchUp 8 to design some stuff for my other fanfic, "A Commander's Path: Road To Freedom." I'm designing a tank and I'm having troubles (I wish I were a pro on this one right now). This is also taking time that I normally use to write chapters for my fics.**

**Anyway, another key reason why I'm not able to update fast is because I spend time reading several articles and stuff about the conflicting sides of technology and modernity against the teachings of the Church (think of the old times the Church is very powerful capable of executing people who they call as "heretics" just because said people deviated or violated their teachings and beliefs).**

**This chapter contains an interesting plot development. Don't worry, I already planned this thing ahead of time.**

**Without anything more to say, here's Chapter 14!**

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**==========Chapter 14: Church and Technology==========**

Night has already set in and faint lights originating from lamps inside the Academy's individual rooms can be seen easily. Inside one of these rooms, Oktavia is seen writing something in her journal. Guided solely by a small oil lamp which tend to flicker at least every second or two, Oktavia continued to write a quite long journal entry not minding the faint and unreliable illumination that the oil lamp is giving.

She continued to write and write as if there's no more tomorrow. So far, she had already used four whole pages, back to back, in writing her journal. Whatever it is, it appears to be a very big thing to write in. At the same time, half of the bottle which is roughly half as tall and wide as the usual drinking glass containing the ink she uses to write is already empty further adding to the fact that she's now writing too much.

Eventually, the ink in the bottle completely dried up. Seeing that, Oktavia reclined in her chair. Her journal is still open with the pen lying just a few inches next to it. She can't close the journal as the ink on the last page she wrote in is still fresh and it will taint the page just next to the last page with residual ink if she closed it immediately.

"Dear Founder… Just what is this… thing?", Oktavia muttered as she stared at the last page of her journal with the lamp flickering faintly in the background.

The next day, the weather is both sunny and peaceful. It is like the past days, no bad weather to mess up any outdoor activities if there are any. No ruckus that will frustrate anybody's mood. No big time of a load of academical matters that needs to be taken care of by the students. Nothing that can be of a bother is present today. The day is nothing but a time to relax and loose out.

In the grounds near the servants' staying place, Siesta is busy in tidying up several pieces of garments on the clotheslines. Everything is going as usual. Compared to the other days though, she noticed that the tasks are starting to get oddly fewer. Not few in a sense that she now rarely works but the chores tend to come in much more slowly than she anticipated. Also, it's quite strange that a sizeable number of the students, mainly first year female students, are behaving quite oddly.

"Hey Siesta!", a passing servant called out to Siesta.

"Oh hello Mureu", Siesta replied after turning around and saw who called her out which is a man with brown hair and a tan-like skin complexion. The servant now known as Mureu is wearing a cook's outfit except that he is not wearing a cook's hat at the moment.

"We got less work to do these past few days, got any idea why?", Mureu asked as he stretched his arms outward.

"Uh… I don't know exactly a reason", Siesta replied.

"Well, that's a letdown", Mureu said, "Still, I've been hearing about that human-shape shifting golem from many of the nobles here especially the female ones."

"Uhm… is that so?", Siesta asked.

"Well, just eavesdropped on them", Mureu replied, "And they don't seem to mind."

"I see", Siesta replied as Mureu parted ways with her afterwards.

Siesta watched as Mureu walked away and slowly became smaller on her viewpoint. When Mureu is finally gone, she stared up at the blue peaceful sky above with her eyes that seem to look so distant.

Meanwhile, everything went as normal though several gossips are now circulating at the Academy.

In one of the corridors of the Academy several students are seen chatting with each other as they went towards their classrooms.

"Hey did you hear?", a male student said, "We have a new student here."

"I know", his companion replied, "I believe she's from Romalia."

"Now that's weird", the male student said, "Why would somebody from Romalia come here?"

"I don't know", his companion answered, "But it looks like this one came from the Church."

"Okay, now this is getting even weirder", the male student exclaimed, "What is the Church trying to do?"

"Beats me", his companion replied.

The two students eventually reached their classroom and immediately went towards their seats in the classroom the moment they passed through the door. The classroom is already almost full. In fact, only the teacher for the day seems to be the only one not yet present along with the transfer student if said new transfer student is included.

Inside the classroom, Louise is sitting in her seat already. She is just sitting in her place as she have nothing better else to do. Cherub is currently accompanying Professor Colbert in the laboratory doing something that doesn't make any sense to her… yet. Whatever that may be, she's going to find it out later on anyway so it doesn't really matter if she let the matter hang on for now.

"Hey Louise, you look all quiet today", Kirche said, "Anything bothering you?"

Louise heard Kirche talking to her but decided on whether she needs to answer or not. She is considering this as Kirche no longer seems to give her crank insults like before. After a few moments of her little decision, Louise finally replied.

"Nothing", Louise said, "I just have nothing better to do."

"Oh, I thought that you were confused on what to do with your familiar", Kirche replied.

Kirche's reply made Louise raise an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?", Louise asked.

"Well, I heard that the transfer student currently here is from Romalia and I think that student is aiming for your familiar", Kirche said, "So I guess that you'll be thinking on what to do with your familiar."

"Wait! Is she from the Church?!", Louise blurted out.

"From what I heard, yes. Your familiar is so interesting and intriguing that even the Church placed an eye on it. I wouldn't be surprised if my kingdom also made a move", Kirche nonchalantly replied although she's a bit amused on Louise whose face is currently showing some interesting face expressions. Her friend, Tabitha, is quiet as always though she periodically glances at Louise every now and then.

Louise sank back on her chair after digesting the newly acquired information. She should have known that something like this will happen especially after the Familiar Exhibition event. Still, even if she did, the Church made an action far faster that she expected. Is her familiar really got such an attention?

Unfortunately, Louise is unable to think more as the teacher finally came in.

"Before we begin our class", the teacher began when he reached the teacher's table in the front of the class, "I will like to introduce a new student joining our class."

As if on cue, a girl wearing the Academy uniform with a black cape came in. The sight of the girl caught the attention of many boys in the class and the ire of some of the female students. Waist-level dull silver hair, green eyes, moderate height, and a well-endowed body are the primary traits that were visible from the girl in the get-go. She's not as better as Kirche when it comes to body sizes but her figure is better for her size.

"Greetings, I am Oktavia Galeazzo Visconti. I hope we get along well", Oktavia said.

Murmurs and chatters erupted along the class as they stared at the new transfer student in front of them.

"Ah, isn't she beautiful and charming?", Guiche said with his eyes sparkling and while holding his trademark red rose.

The other male students of the class also got similar reactions like Guiche if not identical. Some of the girls are fuming over the new student though they can't help but be curious about her anyways. First, she came from Romalia and, by the looks of it; she is a nun of the Church. The fact that a nun came to the Academy and enrolled as a student is intriguing at best.

"That playboy!", Montmorency said as she gritted her teeth in anger.

Seeing her boyfriend gets attracted by another girl automatically ticks her off. Ironically, it's a wonder that she still considers him her boyfriend given Guiche's playboy tendencies. Though, it's more of an irony as Guiche doesn't get attracted to Kirche despite the Germanian's obviously better assets compared to the other female students in the Academy.

After several moments, the teacher then instructed Oktavia to occupy the empty seat at the third row of the classroom. Oktavia nodded and made her way to her desk. As Oktavia passed the row of desks where Louise is sitting at, the pink-haired girl stared at Oktavia with observant eyes. However, Oktavia paid no heed to this. Her target is the pink-haired girl's golem familiar, not the master itself. Still, it's quite the opposite as the masters should be the target instead of their minions. When she thought about it for a second time, it's kinda funny that the roles are reversed.

Classes then began afterwards as the sounds of books being opened and pages being turned are heard across the classroom.

Meanwhile, inside the Academy's stables, Colbert and Cherub are busy with tinkering their newly-built invention. Currently, Colbert is very optimistic and happy with the current development. One, his scientific efforts now bore fruit. And second, said efforts will yield a revolutionary breakthrough. The only problem now is the newly-arrived nun from Romalia. Romalian clergymen are known to be fervent enforcers of the Founder's religion and that they won't keep a blind eye on anything they deem heretical. On Colbert's case, his newly-created "invention" can be a problem to him. If he didn't act carefully, he may probably end up seeing himself being labeled as a heretic and, in the worst case scenario, executed afterwards. That's a really bad end if he didn't act carefully.

However, the way he saw how that nun acted when she heard Cherub's mechanical voice may tilt some thorns off him if lady luck sided with him. The reason is that the logical explanation will be that he is just working on the directions of the golem which will surely give him a lesser punishment if things get really messy. Furthermore, Cherub gained a really big attention and he, a professor, might probably end up just being deliberately ignored as a result which is something that's a total life saver for him.

Colbert dismissed his thoughts afterwards now that he has something else better to do. Right now, he and Cherub are currently working on the engine and the transmission of the steam-engine powered vehicle that they now have.

"I never expected that this invention that I envisioned is far difficult than I thought", Colbert stated as he looked at the various contraptions that made up the vehicle.

"To tell the truth", Cherub said, "The more sophisticated designs of vehicles of this kind are much more complex."

"Uh… how so?", Colbert asked.

"The more complicated vehicles have various mechanisms and systems that allow them to function better and, at times, boast performance far and away than they should originally have", Cherub explained, "For instance, if we can install at least one of those mechanisms, we can allow this vehicle to reach speeds at unusually fast rates or even at an exponential rate."

"Is that even possible?", Colbert asked feeling skeptical at the statement.

"With all the materials present along with enough time, it is possible", Cherub stated.

Even with skepticism in his mind, Colbert can't help but smile. It may sound to be impossible but somebody of greater intellect and precision is telling him that it is possible and with proof. It may be hard but it will eventually pay off. That alone is an enough insurance to spend a whole amount of time in this work that he started… even with all the risks attached to it.

"Well then, let's get to it", Colbert stated.

Meanwhile, at another part of the Academy, Headmaster Osmond is currently alone in his office. The office itself is way too silent. Ms. Longueville turned out to be Fouquet of the Crumbling Dirt and that literally translated to his well… beloved secretary to get arrested outright. The silence of the room is slightly negated by Osmond's mouse familiar that is currently making beep-like shrieks eagerly awaiting orders. Too bad, with no sexy secretary inside the room, there's no order to follow.

"Gah! I need a new sexy secretary now!", Osmond finally said in a loud tone with his eyes wide open.

Osmond's voice reverberated inside the room and it appears that his voice sent some sort of palpable waves which caused some sort of weak gusts of wind to cause the books to flip open. Even his mouse familiar got surprised and found itself resting on its back on the headmaster's table.

Outside the Headmaster's office, Professor Chevreuse is walking away from the Headmaster office's door with a blushed look combined with an evident sign of embarrassment expression written all over her face. She originally intends to go inside the headmaster's office but what Headmaster Osmond yelled from the inside made her turn back.

"That old perverted geezer…", Professor Chevreuse muttered as she quietly walked away.

With her primary intention blown away by the Headmaster's perverseness, Professor Chevreuse decided to head off to the library. Luckily, she can recuperate from there. As she walked in the corridors, she noticed that most of the students that are walking the corridors, female ones in particular, are all carrying books which she immediately recognized as Earth Magic books. Normally, she'll be a bit proud as the students are devoting their time in learning Earth magic especially from the ones that aren't Earth mages exactly. However, just noticing that those same Earth Magic books all focus on golems make her think the other way around. Are things in the Academy changed by one golem?

Professor Chevreuse dismissed her thoughts and continued on her way to the library. She needs to rest her mind not to think more about anything for now.

Thousands of miles away from the Tristain Magical Academy, the eerie silence within the residence of the Pope of Romalia continue to persist inside the Pope's mansion. Inside a spacious room within this mansion, the Pope, Vittorio Serevare, a young man with long blonde hair and a youthful-looking face is peacefully resting on a chair. Aside from him, there is nobody else inside the room. The room that the Pope is currently in is filled with an assortment of expensive and fancy furniture and other decorations. The bright light of the sun is currently beaming inside the room through the large glass window of the room.

The Pope continued to just rest until the door opened and a middle-aged man in priest clothing suddenly came in. The Pope looked at the new comer and greeted him kindly. The new comer bowed down as a sign of respect before standing up.

"Good day Father La Grua", Pope Vittorio said as the priest got back up to his feet while he himself stood up from his chair, "Is there any news that you will like to tell me?"

"Of course, Your Holiness", Father La Grua replied, "It's about the golem you told us to take a look on."

"And what may that be?", Pope Vittorio asked.

"All of the contents of the rumors proved true. Sister Oktavia is currently at the Tristain Academy of Magic to oversee the golem", Father La Grua answered, "That golem seemed so… unreal. It was like looking at something that is human but not really human. I cannot comprehend it."

Seeing the older priest's anxious face expression, Pope Vittorio showed a clear sign of interest in the matter.

"How does that golem be as such?", Pope Vittorio asked.

"It looked like a typical young man and it possesses all of the necessary features to be seen as one", Father La Grua said, "But its eyes… when I looked through it, they do not seem human."

"I see", Pope Vittorio said, "I want a conference meeting of the Holy Council in a week in light of this discovery."

"I understand, Your Holiness", Father La Grua said, "Will we have this golem placed on the list of the Holy Inquisition?"

"That won't be necessary at the moment", Pope Vittorio replied, "This strange golem proved to be an interesting subject and I do not intend to let this be thrown in the drain. Albion is currently suffering signs of a brewing rebellion and we might need this golem if it proved to be more than a construct made of earth. Judging from the letter sent in by Cardinal Mazarin, it seems that this golem is not an ordinary one. Cardinal Mazarin has commented that this golem is "an angel made of steel" after all. Personally, I would like to meet this golem myself."

"I understand", Father La Grua stated, "I no longer have anything further to say Your Holiness."

Father La Grua then exited the room after showing a sign of respect to the Pope. When Pope Vittorio is now sure that he is alone again, he casually made his way towards the large window of the room and stared the scenery outside through it.

"An angel made of steel… Is this a manifestation of the Founder's Will?", Pope Vittorio asked himself in a low tone as he continued to stare outside.

Back at the Academy, it was already night time when Colbert and Cherub finished with tinkering the vehicle that they made the other day. Improvements that they applied on the vehicle include a much faster acceleration rate and better suspension of the vehicle which improved its response time to the user's steering of the wheel. So far, the vehicle looked like a stripped down copy of an antiquated Ford Model T with the exception of vehicle lights.

Cherub is currently walking in the corridors of the Academy leading to Louise room. Even though Louise didn't give him an order to go to her room every night with the reason being that he doesn't require sleep, it became a standard operating procedure for him to do so. As he is walking, he encountered Siesta on the way. Siesta was the one to first greet Cherub who casually responded in return.

"Mr. Cherub", Siesta said, "How are you today?"

"I am fine Ms. Siesta", Cherub replied, "Is there anything wrong?"

"Nothing", Siesta replied, "I heard that you are working with Professor Colbert on one of his new inventions. Is that right?"

"Yes", Cherub replied, "The invention itself is proceeding smoothly. Several more additional add-ons are the only things needed to use it at full functionality."

"Um… is that something to do with technology?", Siesta asked.

"Correct. However, most of those applied on the invention are obsolete by current standards", Cherub said.

"I see", Siesta replied, "I hope that Professor Colbert's invention goes well."

Siesta then bid Cherub good bye and made her way towards the other direction in order to get to the servants' staying place so she can now rest for the night and prepare to tomorrow's work. On the other hand, Cherub continued his on his way. However, as he reached the stairs, he saw a female student with waist-level dull silver hair, green eyes, and moderate height waiting at the stairs. The female student is Oktavia who is currently resting against the wall and she stood up straight when she saw Cherub. The female transfer student then walked towards him. As soon as she is within range of Cherub, she spoke.

"You… or whatever you are… what really are you?", Oktavia asked with a serious but confused tone.

"I am Master Louise's familiar", Cherub replied.

Oktavia's eyebrows twitched at Cherub's statements while a visible frown painted itself on her face.

"I am not talking about that!", Oktavia said sternly with her voice heard throughout the place, "Tell me, what are you before you became a familiar!"

Cherub appeared to show an apparent sign of confusion on his face but he answered shortly after it.

"I am willing to answer specific questions if that will fill in the discrepancies you have regarding me", Cherub simply stated.

Oktavia just stood in her place. The young man… no, it is the golem who just told her that he'll… no it will answer her questions.

"Well then, I have a long list of questions all concerning you. I hope that you don't plan to hide something or try to lie", Oktavia replied proudly, "If you did, I can assure that your master will be punished accordingly."

Cherub frowned at her statement though he could do little or nothing about it. Based on what he learned about the Church, the Church is a very large organization with an extremely powerful influence over the kingdoms like Tristain. As such, they are not to be trifled with even though they don't directly control the kingdoms. If he did take action against them, the results will be catastrophic. Therefore, the best course of action is to take a wait-and-see approach before making any drastic move.

The two stood in their place with Oktavia letting out her first question a few seconds later.

Meanwhile, in the servants' staying place, Siesta is currently inside her room. Like in the rooms inside the Academy, the rooms of the servants are also only illuminated by the faint light from an oil lamp and all servants have their own rooms albeit not as good as those of the nobles. Siesta is currently laying on her bed with the back of her head nestled on a pillow. She has nothing better else to do and is just lazing it out.

Suddenly, she got up and shifted her attention on a large bag which somehow resembled a large sack. She opened it and searched for something. She rummaged through the contents of the bag until she found what she wants – a sleek, black rectangular black block which seems to have two parts with one part stacked on top of the other.

As it is in her hands, she stared at it.

After a few more moments, Siesta placed it on the table in her room and sat on the chair next to the table. She flipped the rectangular block up which appears to have two parts and... it turns out…. that it is… a laptop. She then pressed the "ON" switch of the laptop and it activated to life.

The rectangular block which turned out to be a laptop immediately started up. It took roughly twenty seconds for the laptop to fully set up. As soon as the laptop is fully set up, Siesta typed in a fast-paced manner. In a span of a few moments, various windows popped out of the laptop's screen.

One of the screens that showed up on the upper left corner of the laptop's screen showed a logo with two panels divided left and right. Red snakes shown in a grapevine formation are displayed on the left panel with white background color while a sword pointed downwards is displayed on the right panel with a red background color. Below these two icons is a label bearing the name "Murakumo Millenium".

Another screen which popped up on the top right corner of the laptop's screen displays the schematics of a monstrous metal construct with the construct's wireframe rotating infinitely. A label is seen on it and it reads as "Devastator".

A third screen showed up on the lower left corner of the screen showed the design layout of what turned out to be a massive space orbital gun which is named as the "Justice".

A fourth screen that showed up on the lower right corner of the screen showed a logo which is oddly similar to the one etched on Cherub. It is named as "D.O.V.E."

"So… my great-great-great grandfather is right after all", Siesta muttered to herself as she stared like as if she is lifeless herself at the laptop's screen. Her eyes let out a faint glow of purple though Siesta didn't seem to notice it herself as she is staring at the laptop's screen.

The laptop's screen showed another screen but is much bigger than the first four that it obscured them into the background. This particular screen showed the schematics and wireframe of a red-colored AC with oversized boosters located at its back. On the sides of this particular screen shows the combat performance of the AC which are all high given the long bars that represent the performance traits of this AC which includes Offense, Defense, Mobility, Maneuverability, Efficiency, and Energy Supply.

As the wireframe of this red-colored AC rotates, a label is displayed and it read…

Nine-Ball Seraph.

_-CHAPTER 14 END-_

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**PS: I might end up making Siesta a bit of an OOC here in the process of giving her a bigger role. Yep, if you notice the last part, I made it in such a way that Siesta possesses HUMAN PLUS enhancement and this will play a role later in the story. The reason for her having this uber power will be revealed in a later point of time though it will have something to do with Murakumo Millenium's experiments.  
**

**BTW, I'm using the universes of Armored Core 1, 2, 3, and even that of 5 and 6 in this story. Don't worry, I can piece all of them together if I ever came to that for this fanfic.**

**Anyways, stay tuned. More developments next chapter!**


	15. Chapter 15: New Files

**Author's Notes: Sorry for the massive delay of two… wait is that three months? Anyways, I just got stuck on how to portray Tabitha in this fic that's why I got delayed. To be honest, Tabitha is the hardest character to draw in ZnT especially in season 1 given how she acted there. Most of the characters are quite easy to draw considering that they emulate their tropes real nice. Examples include Osmond who always act as the wise-old perverted geezer, Guiche the playboy, Louise the shorty tsundere and all.**

**As for this chapter, this focuses on Tabitha as I mentioned when I posted a new chapter for "A Commander's Path: Road To Freedom". If you noticed it, Tabitha didn't speak too much in this chapter. I did this to refer to her lack of speaking "skills" in season 1. She's the quiet girl after all.**

**As for other topics, I would like to inform that Siesta will not be the Siesta that you know in canon. Due to the fact that she possesses Human PLUS, she'll be able to do things that she won't be able to normally do in canon considering what Human PLUS grants to a human. Honestly, Human PLUS is the closest thing that can grant Gary Stu/Mary Sue powers to any character without getting flamed as Human PLUS is a true game breaker in itself. For Siesta fans, don't worry, it's not like she's gonna die anywhere in this story. It's just that, when the time comes, her identity in this story will be altered heavily. There's a twist regarding her which makes her different from canon. Heck, even Osmond will be shocked if he were to hear it.  
**

**On another note, TWGOK: Beyond God's Mask is currently in progress. Just wait firmly as I finish its next chapter.**

**Anyways, here's chapter 15! Enjoy reading it!**

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**==========Chapter 15: New Files==========**

It was another night in the Tristain Academy of Magic. As always, everything is in a state of total quietness. Every single inch is covered by the blackness of the night and the only occasional sound that could be heard is the gentle breeze of the wind that constantly flutters around.

Inside one of the rooms, Tabitha is sitting on her desk currently writing something on a piece of paper. As she write, the oil lamp beside her is constantly letting out a flickering bright light that provides the only source of illumination in the room as the Academy has a policy of snuffing out all major sources of light at this time. Despite the inefficient illumination provided by the oil lamp, it doesn't deter her in the slightest to write.

Still, Tabitha can't help but to occasionally grit her teeth as she wrote. It's not the lamp providing her with an inferior source of illumination. Rather, it is the thing that she is monitoring: the golem familiar that Louise summoned. As a spy that is currently serving for the King of Gallia which is his own uncle, she is trained to handle every target that will be assigned to her. In actuality, she has no problem with dealing with any target assigned to her. However, the young Valliere's familiar seem to know virtually anything. It seemed perfect in everything and, worse for her; she can't see any weakness in that golem. It is as if that golem is some sort of a god. Both overtly intelligent and powerful, is there any way to overcome that… _thing_?

This has been bugging her mind ever since. When she relayed the information about the strange golem back to her uncle, the next thing that happened is she received a strict order of observing the golem but not to take any direct action as well as acquiring information about the golem as much as she could both covertly and overtly. For her, this is the first time that her uncle has given her an order of this kind. The orders that she received in the past are all one-shot in nature like espionage, assassination, and the like. Considering the nature of the order that she received, her mission is simply harder than the previous ones. Combine it with the golem's unreal ability of spotting her sight on it gives her an uneasy feeling. Furthermore, it also means that the golem might be aware of what she is up to which is a detriment to her mission. As if to make matters much harder for her, the golem's capabilities especially what the abilities it demonstrated during the Familiar Exhibition are far superior and unparalleled to anything else all the while putting the golem in the spotlight. This, as a consequence, leads to a situation that will make her job all the way harder. As the golem had proven its unparalleled prowess, it is highly likely that Tristain has taken an interest in the golem which will make her information gathering on it limited as she is likely to compete with other factions also interested in the golem, especially from the likely agents that they sent for it. The transfer student from Romalia is already an example of this. She isn't going to lie to herself; the agent sent by Romalia will be a big rival to her in that regard as she has the direct and open support of her own faction while hers is limited since she is considered as a covert operative and… an expandable pawn. That agent might have been starting already. Then add the possibility of the other kingdoms of doing the same which will even raise the difficulty level further. To summarize things up, she has a small and narrow window to get this job done.

However, even if there's no order to observe the golem, she will still do it. The golem itself has proven itself to be an interesting plethora of various contradictions and even she became curious about it. Considering all of the stunts that said golem pulled off, this will be worth her time.

Tabitha hung up her pen after writing which produced several pages of written paper. As far as she could tell, what she wrote is rather incomprehensible even for her. If she hadn't seen what the golem can do, she will simply crumple the papers before her and throw it away. Right now, she is staring at a fortress with an impenetrable defense line which she cannot breach with any means that she could think of.

Tabitha went to her bed after fixing up what she wrote for sending tomorrow. But even then, she cannot find any comfort in her sleep. It is as if the golem itself will haunt her anywhere until she solved the piece behind it.

The next day, Tabitha prepared herself up as usual. Nothing out of the ordinary happened in the next three hours or so after she woke up and prepared for classes. Her Rhyme dragon familiar Sylphid is showing eccentric reactions on the golem when it returned from the nearby forest which served as its home since it cannot fit inside the Academy due to its size. One of those is begging her to have a chit-chat with that steel golem. Honestly, she can't understand how the brain of her own familiar works. In theory, Rhyme dragons are supposed to be smart. However, the Rhyme dragon that she got is the opposite of that assumption. Also, the reason why she doesn't interact with the golem in a head-on basis is that she doesn't know what the golem can do. Still, she's going to admit that both she and her familiar are interested in Louise's golem albeit in different matters.

Tabitha stroked her dragon and commanded it to stay in place before leaving towards the classrooms. As she is walking in the corridors she was greeted by Kirche who was cheery and upbeat as always. The busty tan-skinned Germanian girl served as her trusty companion in the Academy. In fact, she usually accompanies Kirche in many of her antics though the main reason for that is that she has nothing else better to do which is why she just tags along. She and Kirche then proceeded together to their classroom. After they are almost midway towards their classroom, they saw Louise all alone. As if in instinct, Kirche called out to Louise.

"Hey, Louise, where's Cherub?", Kirche asked.

Louise turned around to see both Kirche and Tabitha. For some reason, she doesn't feel irritated on Kirche right now.

"He's in the laboratory", Louise replied, "I don't know what he's doing but Professor Colbert agreed to let him use the laboratory as long as nobody uses it."

"Oh… so he's doing something", Kirche said as she touched her cheek with her finger, "Too bad, I was about to give him some present."

Louise twitched on Kirche's reply.

"What do you mean?", Louise asked with some level of hostility present in her voice.

"Oh nothing", Kirche replied as her generously-sized breasts bounced up and down, "It's just something that you can't give to him."

Some tiny electric sparks shot up on Louise's head and strands of her hair suddenly got disheveled. As always, Kirche easily noticed the effects and smiled at the scenario before her.

"Oh well, see you later Louise", Kirche said as she and Tabitha walked away leaving away leaving a silently pissed-off Louise in the corner of the corridor.

Tabitha spared a quick glance on Louise before she went away with Kirche who was laughing as she walked towards the classroom.

Classes started eventually just after a couple of minutes of them arriving in the classroom. For Tabitha, classes are just plain and boring repetitive sessions every day in the Academy. Honestly, she considers the routine of attending classes as nothing but some sort of formality to allow the Academy to function and appear as one. By definition, Academies are centers of learning and wisdom. In this Academy's case, just take that one important trait out and this place becomes a gathering place for the elite of the society.

The entire session in it is uneventful. A couple of hours passed with nothing but a session that has been repeated for an indefinite amount of time. Still, there's still some little consolation in it as the topic is about Earth magic. For odd reasons, everyone seems to be taking every single piece of information in this session seriously. Even the teacher for the day, Mrs. Chevreuse, seems to notice the entire thing as well especially when she speaks the words "golem" and "contraptions". Meanwhile, the transfer student from Romalia, Oktavia, is currently aloof with her attention drifting somewhere else. In comparison to every single student inside the classroom, she is the only one that doesn't seem to pay any attention.

Eventually, classes were dismissed after another hour or so. As soon as Mrs. Chevreuse announced the end of classes, the students began to vacate the classroom. As always, Tabitha and Kirche went away together.

"Hey Tabitha, let's go to the laboratory", Kirche said, "Louise said that Cherub is there. Maybe he is still there at this point."

Tabitha just closed her book and looked up to Kirche before speaking just one word.

"Doubtful", Tabitha said plainly and without any sign of emotion in her voice.

"Hmm… but still…", Kirche said placing her finger on her cheek, "We don't have anything better to do today so checking him out won't hurt."

Without anything to say to object, Tabitha simply nodded her head and opened her book again.

"Then it's settled", Kirche replied, "Let's greet Mr. Perfect Guy Golem in the laboratory!"

The two then continued to walk and they headed off to the laboratory. After several minutes of walking through the corridors and about a couple of floors of the Academy, the two reached the laboratory. Just like the library in typical days, the laboratory is one of the least-visited places inside the Academy. The number of visitors that happen to go inside the library is just a few more people compared to the library.

"Well, here we are", Kirche said as both she and Tabitha stared at the laboratory's door, "I just hope he's here."

After taking a breath, Kirche grabbed the knob and turned it all the while pushing the door forward. The door made an audible screech as Kirche pushed it forward. Inside the room, they can see Cherub's back facing them and, by how Cherub appears, he seems to be working on something. Right now, Cherub is busy with working on the chemistry apparatus of the laboratory. Several vials sealed with wooden corks as lids and having the same appearance holding unknown glowing liquids are also seen on the table that Cherub is working on along with some papers that has weird letterings written on it. At the same time, liquids are seen tunneling on the tubes of the chemistry apparatus and Cherub appears to be keen on watching the liquid as it pass through the transparent glass tubes.

"Hey Cherub, what are you doing there?", Kirche asked.

Cherub turned around and saw Kirche and Tabitha just standing in front of him.

"I am currently creating several vials of general purpose medicines and other chemicals for later use", Cherub replied.

"Medicines?", Kirche asked, "Are you also skilled in healing, darling?"

"If you are referring to the means of healing via water magic, then no", Cherub replied, "These chemicals that I am working on include pain killers and antibiotics designed to provide on-field medical attention to wounds that are sustained in the course of unexpected events."

"Hey… so you're saying that these things are good for healing?", Kirche asked.

"No", Cherub replied, "These medicines are only suited to provide a quick first aid to wounds sustained and not a permanent solution. However, I am also planning to develop medicines to cure far greater diseases and infections once I am through with these basic medicines."

For some reason, Tabitha perked up on Cherub's reply but still kept her quiet-and-silent façade as Kirche asked another question.

"What kind of greater diseases and infections are you talking about?", Kirche asked with interest.

"Those diseases and infections that I refer to include ailments like cancer, leukemia, anemia, measles, scurvy, and plagues as well as chemical poisoning", Cherub answered.

Kirche doesn't know the ailments that Cherub told her but she can somehow sense that these ailments must be pretty scary and dangerous if Cherub's serious and collected tone of speaking is to be considered. However, Cherub is always acting like this. There have been no signs of emotions coming out of the advanced golem whatsoever just like Tabitha but her blue-haired friend at least shows some at certain occasions. Still, considering the number of vials already holding what she suspects as those medicines on the table that Cherub said must imply that they are urgent risks that need a fast response.

"To show you what these ailments are, here they are", Cherub said as the same holographic display screen that he showed to them in Louise's room materialized in front of them.

The holographic display blinked for several moments before it showed a rather disturbing sight on screen. The sight, a video feed of a man wearing weird clothes which have been tattered as if he was beaten and tortured was lying on the ground screaming in pain. The man in question has blood dripping out of his mouth as he screamed in agony and his face or at least what can be considered the man's face is swollen beyond recognition. Around the man, lifeless bodies splattered with blood litter the ground with some of those corpses stared with their eyes lifelessly on the screen. The sight itself made Kirche froze in her place while Tabitha, who still kept her composure as usual, is showing signs of unease if the twitching of her eyebrows and the seemingly apparent guess that she's trying to look away are any indication. The more they look on the screen, the more they feel that departed souls are piercing their own souls out of their own bodies.

"Darling… is that man… under… a _curse_?", Kirche asked slowly as the disturbing video feed continued to play on the holographic display.

"No", Cherub replied flatly, "The man you are currently seeing is suffering from the effects of a poison gas attack during the Halabja poison gas attack in the Iraq-Iran War."

"Wait… war?", Kirche asked in shock, "Uh… how exactly was that war fought?"

Cherub didn't spoke a word. Instead, the holographic screen shifted its screen towards a typical scenario during that war: Two sides exchanging fire over a wide area of land with high explosive ordnance exploding over time into everywhere and anything. However, the next scene made Kirche and even Tabitha gulp in a mix combination of shock and fear. The next scene shows what appears to be a child, perhaps even smaller than Tabitha, carrying a musket of sorts trudging his way towards the center of the heat of the battle. However, the child in question didn't make it as he was simply shot out of nowhere and the bullet that killed him went straight to his head and exited at the other direction reducing his head to nothing but a blood stump. As if that wasn't enough, more bullets punctured the now dead body producing several bullet holes exactly where the bullets hit and said bullets simply passed through as the body is about to fall. The now-dead body then fell on the ground after sustaining heavy damage. Kirche is almost showing signs of fear and appears to be paralyzed while Tabitha, though seemingly prepared to witness these kinds of events, seem to have the same reaction as her busty redhead friend.

"Then those bodies…", Kirche trailed off.

"Correct, those bodies are corpses of people that were killed by chemical weapons", Cherub said without any hesitation, "And the man you saw in the video feed is a victim just a couple of moments away from dying because of it. Chemical weapons offer only two outcomes, it is either one dies a quick painless death or a slowly and infernal suffering before death claims their lives."

The liquid from the chemistry apparatus dripped into the vial under it slowly as silence permeated the entire room for several minutes. As it is already going to be nighttime in a few hours, the sun is currently casting a yellowish-orange gleam outside and the inside of the laboratory is going to get dark if the lights are not yet lit up. Thankfully, the lights have been lit up.

"Perhaps, heavy costs are always associated with a progress of equal weight", Cherub continued, "An advancement in the way of life may mean a better living condition. However… it also means an even better means of exterminating the same life that was supposed to be improved by that advancement."

The last drop from the chemistry apparatus fell on the vial producing a ripple-like effect on the liquid's surface inside the vial as Cherub put the wooden cork lid on top of it. He then placed it beside the other vials on top of the table. Once that is done, Cherub gazed at the horizon through the open window.

"Still, even a less advanced world such as this has its own advantages", Cherub said as he gazed at the tree line outside gently shake from the winds that blew there, "Less advancement… less deaths. This is unlike the world that is typical of my era. This world is roughly on the same lines as the world from which I am created and that world predates the existence of my own creator. A serene world abundant in natural resources… untainted by human neglect… free of contamination. The firepower that I have at my disposal might be more than enough to take out any target. However, any damages cannot be easily repaired."

Seeing that this will lead to more depressing scenarios, Kirche decided to switch topics before Cherub decides to bring in another disturbing topic or two. Looking for anything, she noticed the same papers beside the vials and decided to use it to switch topics.

"Hey Cherub, what are those papers for?", Kirche asked.

Cherub looked around and saw the papers that Kirche is pointing at. He then went for it and grabbed the papers and went back towards the two.

"These papers contain various information about different chemicals that I am going to create later on", Cherub replied, "In the next few hours, I am going to make translated version of these papers into Halkeginian for later use."

As Cherub showed the papers to the two, Tabitha noticed that one of the papers has some sort of a chart shown as boxes of sorts in varying colors connected to each other in a rather non-uniform formation. Tabitha didn't spoke a word but pointed her finger towards the sheet of paper that has the chart drawn on it.

"Tabitha…", Kirche said as she also looked at the sheet of paper that Tabitha is pointing at.

"This is the periodic table of elements", Cherub said as he placed it on top of the papers, "This chart showcases all of the chemical elements that I can create and use."

"Elements?! You got this many?!", Kirche asked incredulously given the ridiculously large amount of elements that Cherub is saying to her. For somebody who is just accustomed to four basic elements of fire, water, wind, and earth, this is a shocker.

"Correct", Cherub replied, "The elements are arranged in order of their recurrence. Elements at the top of the table have a higher recurrence while those at the bottom have lower. Also, the elements at the last two rows at the bottom are the heaviest elements in this table."

"Heavy? How?, Kirche asked.

"The elements in the upper row of the two rows beneath the main table of elements are the Lanthanides while those on the lower row are Actinides. The reason why they are all classified as heavy elements is that their atomic structure are usually more complex than the ones found on the upper parts of the chart. Furthermore, they are all impossible to be found in their natural states but they are all synthetic in nature which means that they can be created by artificial means ", Cherub answered.

"So does that mean that they are more valuable?", Kirche asked a follow-up question.

"Yes", Cherub replied, "One must invest a large deal of resources just to manufacture them perhaps even greater than gold and diamonds. But even then, it would also take an equally large amount of resources just to use them for their intended roles usually as processed materials ready to be used."

The mention that these elements are more valuable than gold and diamonds somehow perked up Kirche who asked another question typical of her.

"Can you make one of those elements for me?", Kirche asked.

"No", Cherub said as he looked all around the laboratory, "I can still create any of those elements through my Phase Matter Alternator System. However, the current arrangement and suite of equipment in this laboratory isn't suited to handle such metals. Furthermore, the toxic properties of some of those same metals might not be good to the health of the two of you. I cannot risk any toxic poisoning at this point in time and any other related consequences"

"Geez", Kirche said in a distressed tone.

"However, I can give you a sample of platinum as an example", Cherub added.

"What?", Kirche said in confusion.

Kirche looked at Cherub who went for the table and grabbed a rectangular piece of shiny metal and handed it over to her.

"This…", Kirche said, "Is what you call platinum?"

"Correct", Cherub replied.

Kirche inspected the small sheet of metal that Cherub gave her. At first sight, it was just as large as the palm of her hand. In regards to texture, it was smooth and cool to the touch somehow proving that it was melded by a powerful square-class earth mage in her opinion though provided that she didn't knew that it was Cherub who created this. It's clarity is no slouch either and it's thickness is just right… not too thick and not too thin. It's not heavy either.

"Where is it used?", Tabitha now asked.

"Normally, it is used to create specialized equipment and tools meant to take on tasks that cannot be accomplished without them. Aside from that, they are also used to create jewelry due to their high economical value. In most cases, the cost of platinum is almost twice that of gold making any jewelry created using platinum cost more in the market. The fact that they don't rust also adds to their economic value.""

"WHAT?!", Kirche asked in shock.

Kirche switched her gaze on the sheet of platinum on her palm and on Cherub back and forth for a couple of times before she hugged Cherub.

"Darling, you're so cool!", Kirche said cheerfully as her huge assets rubbed on Cherub's body.

Tabitha, seeing her friend do one of her usual antics, just made out what can be considered a poker face. For her part, she just let her friend do the talking to get information. On the other hand, Cherub just stood there motionlessly while putting up a poker face as well as he tried to figure out the connection between handing over an expensive metal to a human and being hugged by said human for it. While he do know that humans have a knack for seeking riches and treasures, his programming cannot find any reason why does he get hugged like that even though he handed just a piece of said expensive metal. Due to the fact that he is as tall as Kirche herself, he is very lucky that Kirche's assets didn't collided straight with his face.

"Oh, sorry for that", Kirche said as she moved away from Cherub, "I just got carried away."

"No problems", Cherub said as he switched his attention on the vials and de-materialized them with his Advanced Matter Storage System making the vials disappear from sight.

Kirche and Tabitha, having witnessed it before, were not surprised although they are still impressed with it. If it was some sort of a spell, the two of them might have made efforts to learn it.

"I think it is time for you to go now", Cherub replied, "Night time is about to set in so the two of you should go back to your rooms."

"Huh? What about you?", Kirche asked.

"I will go out after cleaning everything here. Professor Colbert also said that I should keep this place tidy for later use. Speaking of the professor, I still need to help him in the steam-engine contraption that he is working on."

"I get it. Wait… steam engine? Isn't that banned by the Church or something?", Kirche asked.

"Legally, yes", Cherub answered, "However, the person sent by Romalia went silent after confronting me over certain things. One of those is the steam engine. I simply answered her questions but she suddenly went silent after that."

Kirche knowing who that person is laughed before she spoke.

"Hah! That woman deserves it!", Kirche replied with a chuckle, "Romalians are too old fashioned that's why they can't do anything really entertaining!"

Tabitha, being quiet for the most part of the conversation, simply shrugged at the mention of the Romalian agent. However, she uttered one word that made Kirche and Cherub look at her.

"Rival", Tabitha said in a slow tone.

"Huh? Rival about what?", Kirche asked.

However, Kirche didn't get a reply as Tabitha just went on to read her book. Still, Kirche got an idea of what it is. Whether she got it right or not, it didn't matter. At least, she has something to blabber about.

"Geez, Tabitha. If it just about to compete with Cherub's… _attention_, just go for it. Don't let that Romalian discourage you", Kirche replied.

Somehow, Tabitha seemed to blush and Kirche can swear that her blue-haired friend was shaken a bit by what she said.

"_My… this will be fun_", Kirche thought to herself as her mind produced several dirty thoughts in her mind which she plans to do later in the foreseeable future.

The two eventually left the laboratory, leaving Cherub cleaning the inside of the laboratory as they did so. Eventually, Kirche and Tabitha parted ways with both of them going back to their respective rooms.

It was another tiring day, Tabitha thought to herself. However, it did give her more insight at the familiar of Louise like its capabilities. Still, she can't make ends meet. Everything about that golem is conflicting and, the more she knew, the more it becomes more complicated.

"Just what really is it?"

Those were the words that formed up in Tabitha's mind as her tired mind found solace as she slept on her bed.

_-CHAPTER 15 END-_

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**PS: Well this sums up everything in chapter 15. I hope you guys like it. As I have already stated in the author's notes and in the chapter, this chapter focuses on Tabitha. This chapter showcases her exploits to know more about Cherub though the results were futile but not a total failure in itself.**

**Oh yeah, I took the periodic table's introduction to Kirche and Tabitha from "Holy Crystal Albatross". If you want to know how, then read that manga. Sadly, it seems to be discontinued already.  
**

**Anyways, stay tuned for the next chapter.**


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